Changes
by brokengirl24
Summary: Set after the season finale. Kono survives but decides the island is no longer safe for her to live in so she decides to leave to restart her life but when certain SEAL finds out, he flies out to her new home, determined to have her return. Summary Inside! Steve/Kono! McKono!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. So while doing one of my favorite things(thinking about McKono), this idea popped up, _What if _Kono had left the island after rescuing herself in the season finale? What if the thought of staying in the same island where was no longer safe in, scared her? What if? And what if, when Steve finds out, he flies out to try to bring her back?**

**Here's a preview of the first chapter. I apologize if any of the information is incorrect.**

**Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I only own the plot.**  
**  
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* * *

_I have to survive. I won't die like this. I refuse to die like this. I'm going to fight_

Kono thought as she struggled to keep herself from drowning.

She couldn't imagine herself dying like this but then again, she should have known, Delano would come after her. He got his revenge and now she was trying to survive. The ropes tied around her ankles and hands were becoming looser as she loosened them as best she could. The tape on her mouth was now gone as after a while of moving her mouth, it had fallen off.

She remembered after IA, Steve had taken her to learn how to swim more efficiently. She was reluctant at first, telling him she knew how to swim properly but he told her he wanted her prepared for situations. She had spent the day at the pool where the SEAL's trained, learning techniques to get out safely in situations. Steve didn't let them leave until she could easily get out in sticky situations. He had trained her well. She never thought that training would come in handy. Hell she didn't think it would be useful in the future, but now, she was grateful as hell that he had taken her.

She swam up the surface, taking a large breath of air before going back down and began to do exactly what Steve had taught her. Her arms were burning and she knew she was becoming tired but she wasn't going to give up until she was safe again.

After untying her wrists and ankles, Kono began the long journey back to island.

Kono only knew one thing and that was after this night, things would never be the same for her again.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review! I accept anonymous! Whether I continue this story, depends on you guys.**

**McKono, Mikita, Crowen,**  
**Nina**


	2. Water, Hospitals, and Decisions

**Hey guys. Quick thing, while I was writing this chapter, I was re-watching the Hawaii Five 0 finale for Season 2 and I noticed that Malia was shot in the stomach. I don't know who said it but someone said that in season 3, Chin will be a changed man. This is just my thought and I hope it's not true but could it be that Malia is/was pregnant? I don't know, I was just thinking and that came up. I'm hoping that's not why Chin will be a changed man in season 3 because if it is, first episode of Season 3, I will cry.**

**Anyways I don't own Hawaii Five-0 and all spelling and grammar mistakes are mine.**

**Also I apologize for anything that's medically incorrect. I'm not a doctor.**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

_I have to survive. I won't die like this. I refuse to die like this. I'm going to fight_

Kono thought as she struggled to keep herself from drowning.

She couldn't imagine herself dying like this but then again, she should have known, Delano would come after her. He got his revenge and now she was trying to survive. The duct tape around her ankles and her wrists were becoming looser as she loosened them as best she could. The tape on her mouth was now gone as after a while of moving her mouth, it had fallen off.

She remembered after IA, Steve had taken her to learn how to swim more efficiently. She was reluctant at first, telling him she knew how to swim properly but he told her he wanted her prepared for situations. She had spent the day at the pool where the SEAL's trained, learning techniques to get out safely in situations. Steve didn't let them leave until she could easily get out in sticky situations. He had trained her well. She never thought that training would come in handy. Hell she didn't think it would be useful in the future, but now, she was grateful as hell that he had taken her.

She swam up the surface, taking a large breath of air before going back down and began to do exactly what Steve had taught her. Her arms were burning and she knew she was becoming tired but she wasn't going to give up until she was safe again.

She knew she was doing what he had taught her in the incorrect order but at this point she was desperate to be able to move. She went up to the surface to take a deep breathe before going back down and quickly beginning to pull at the tape with her teeth. Finally after a few attempts, she was able to rip the tape off her wrists. Once she did that, she began to untie her ankles.

After untying her wrists and ankles, Kono began the long journey back to island.

Kono only knew one thing and that was after this night, things would never be the same for her again.

* * *

Kono swam and swam even when her burning muscles were screaming at her to stop. She had lost track of time and judging by the the dark skies and lack of light it was past midnight. She wondered if anyone was looking for her. Only Chin knew she was gone and he had made his decision and chosen his wife over her. She didn't blame him for doing that. She knew that he knew that she could fight this unlike Malia, who's chances of surviving something like this were thin. She was a little angry and upset at him for choosing Malia but she understood the reasons.

Now she swam to survive and her hopes of getting back to the island in one piece were fading fast. She went over the possible scenarios of how she could die between where she was and the island and concluded that chances of surviving were slim. She was cold and even if it was dark, she could feel her fingers getting colder by the second which by her standards wasn't a good sign.

By the time she got back to shore, she was tired, dehydrated, and weak. She slowly crawled up the beach, hoping that by some luck, someone would be out in the middle of the night. Her energy was low and she knew that if she didn't get medical help soon, she would pass out. It had been a long journey back to the island and she knew that Delano had planned this well. From his known, she was dead in the middle of the ocean and that was how she intended to have things, in-case she did get medical help.

She didn't know where she was, all she knew was that it had grass on it and judging by the lights on the porch, she was in the front lawn of a house near the beach. She slowly laid down, hoping to get some rest but even she knew, it wasn't the best idea. Her body was screaming at her to rest for a little while while her brain yelled at her to stay awake.

She didn't know how much time she spent on the cold grass but she knew it wasn't long because the next thing she knew, a flashlight was in her face and she was awake staring at an HPD police officer who had his gun out.

"HPD!" a police officer yelled, his gun out, as another officer pulled up. They had received a disturbance call from the owner of the house stating someone was on his yard and that he wanted someone to come out and see who it was.

"Five-0. K-kono Kala.. kaua" she said, in a weak voice. The officer got closer as did the other one and they looked at each-other as realization hit them of who was in laying down in the middle of a lawn.

One of them grabbed his radio to call for help, "I need an ambulance to a residence in Oahu. We've found Officer Kono Kalakaua,"

"Can you tell me what happened?" The other officer asked as she sat down on the grass.

"Water.. Ocean... kidnapped," she choked out as she struggled to talk with her dry throat.

"Hetty, she's struggling! Tell the operator to get that bus to step on it!," she shouted as Kono's eyes rolled to the back of her head.

"Stay awake. You cant fall asleep," the officer told Kono before standing up and rushing to grab some water from her car.

"She's dehydrated," the officer told the other one as she tilted Kono's head to try to get some water down her throat.

Minutes later the sirens and the warning lights of an ambulance rushing through the neighborhood was heard. Some people came out from their houses to watch as the paramedics quickly got out and aided the woman found on the lawn.

* * *

Kono slowly opened her eyes blinking to adjust to the light. She looked around and saw she was in a white room. She looked down and saw she was wearing a hospital gown with an IV. She saw Danny on the couch, sleeping.

The first thing, Kono did was grab the glass of water on the stand nearby. She knew she wouldn't be able to talk without at least getting something down her throat.

"Danny," she called out. He snapped his eyes open and quickly stood up from the couch, walking over to her.

"Morning, kid,"

"What happened?" Kono asked.

"A lot did. Delano had his guys kidnap you and Malia so Chin could choose and Chin choose Malia but Delano still had her shot and you still went overboard. Uh according to HPD, you were found on a lawn, dehydrated, weak, and pale. Pretty much on the brink of death. The owner of the house thought you were a hobo so he called the cops who then seeing who you were, called for an ambulance and uh, you were taken over here. HPD called me when they couldn't reach Chin or Steve and when I got here, I figured out Malia was here,"

"Is Malia okay?" Kono asked, concern written over her face.

"She was shot in the stomach. It took a few surgeries to fix the damage done by the bullet and some blood transfusions. She's still here in the hospital and Chin's with her. He refuses to leave her room unless there's someone who he trusts to watch her. She's alive, barely, but alive,"

"Oh. What's the verdict on me?"

"Dehydration, mild hypothermia due to the cold water, some cuts and bruises from the crawling, some bruised wrists from the tape, bruised ribs, dislocated shoulder, and exhaustion. You had me and the rest worried sick about you," Danny said as he embraced her.

"Oh. At least it wasn't worse," she chuckled dryly. She looked around, searching for Steve. Danny followed her eyes and quickly answered the question, he knew she had on her mind.

"Steve is out of the state, well more like country. Joe took him somewhere. I have no clue where he is but at least this time he left us a note," Danny said grabbing the note from his back pocket.

"Dear Danny, Chin, and Kono, I'm out of the country with Joe. I'll be back in a few days. Sincerely, Steve McGarrett," Danny read out loud.

"Ms. Kalakaua, your awake," the doctor said as he walked in, grabbing the clipboard from her bed.

"I'm Dr. Durance," He said as he shook her hand.

"Hi,"

"How are you feeling?" He asked, clicking his pen so he could write.

"I'm good, some pain, but all's good,"

"That's good. It seems your making quite a recovery for someone that has only been here a week,"

"A week?" Kono asked. The doctor nodded.

"We placed you in a coma temporarily for most of the week so you could regain your energy and let your wounds recover better," the doctor explained writing down notes on the clipboard.

"How long till I can leave?"

"Hold your horses, Ms. Kalakaua. We will like for you to stay here at least another 24 hours so we can monitor for a little more to make sure there's no complications. Tomorrow, we'll talk about the rest of your recovery and if you'll be going home," the doctor explained.

Kono nodded.

"Okay. Well if you need anything, just click on the remote next to you and a nurse will come," the doctor excused himself and left the room.

"I'm going to go check up on Chin and see if he wants to switch so you two can uh, talk," Danny said.

"No. Let him be. I'm tired anyways,"

"Babe, your seriously tired? You've been asleep for the past week," Danny crossed his arms.

"I just don't want to see anyone right now," Kono said sincerely and Danny nodded understanding that the young rookie needed some space.

* * *

**A few days later...**

It had been nearly a week since Kono had discharged herself from the hospital and returned home. When Governor Denning got word of what happened to her, he sent his condolences and told her to take all the time she needed to recover from the traumatic event.

The accident was something, Kono would never forget, because that was the day, she could have died. That night, she could have easily given in to the pain and just let herself die. Her body could have easily wash ashore days later but it didn't. She didn't let herself give in and die. She fought for her life because no way in hell was she going to let Delano win. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that Five-0 had lost one of it's members. No, she was going to fight to live, so she could wipe the smirk off his lips with a punch to the face.

The accident had made her paranoid and more aware of her surroundings. Her door now had double locks along with a security system and a human heat detectors.

You could say she had gone crazy and maybe a little excessive with the new additions of security to her house but to her, it was something small she could do to protect herself from Delano. Though, she doubted the security system and heat detectors would stop him but at least they would warn her. Originally she was going to also get a security dog, specifically a boxer dog, but she had decided that scaring the mail man was not part of her plan, so she opt out of getting a dog.

The longer she stayed in Hawaii, the more paranoid she seem to become. Since her return home, she had barely slept, afraid that Delano would pop up and try to kill her again. A gun was now tucked safely under her pillow loaded and ready. She had nightmares about the accident where sometimes she didn't make it and other times, Delano had his men, torture her and or shoot her. Every-time she had one of those dreams, she would wake up screaming and sweating. To help calm her nerves she had begun to drink tea, something she had never been a fan of. She had always been a coffee kind of person but since getting out of the hospital, she had found some comfort in tea. Every-time she woke up from a nightmare she would put the kettle and drink some tea before heading back to bed or staying up and watching whatever was on TV.

Kamekona had dropped by a few times, bringing food with him and so had Max. Danny and Grace had dropped by as well, usually bringing something with them. She welcomed seeing them around. It made her feel a little safer to have them around.

Max would usually talk to her about the latest news and some cases while Kamekona would have her try his newest specialty and ask her questions about it. Danny and Grace would spend the day out on her backyard, talking, and having fun.

Kono hadn't spoken to Chin since the accident. Every-time he'd come by, Kono ignored the knocking on her door and also ignored his calls. As much as she wanted to talk to him, she wasn't ready.

Even if she was ready, she wouldn't know what to say. She had forgiven him for picking Malia over her, well not really, more like came to an understanding of the situation but still, she didn't want to talk to him.

Hawaii had once been a safe haven to her but after the accident, Kono didn't feel safe in her home. Every-time she would walk out of her house to simply get some groceries, she would find herself looking behind her shoulder and anyone who was looking at her. To her, any person on the street could be working for Delano and watching her to report back to him.

Sometimes she would pull her gun out at random times when she felt someone was following her. Some people, of course, would begin to run, until she pulled out her badge. Nowadays to avoid HPD arriving, she wore her badge where she used to put it so people could see she was Five-0.

Hawaii had begun to look more like a prison then a home and at this point, Kono was desperate to get away from the island. She had begun to do research on the internet on other states and so far, San Diego or Los Angeles, both in California, stuck out to her. She had money saved up in her savings account to move over there and live there half a year if she wanted to. She had already looked up oceanfront houses and found some on Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles. They were expensive but she money saved up and an old friend who could hook her up with a nice house on the beach.

Moving to California would mean restarting her life from scratch and that was something Kono was willing to do. The nightmares were a problem and maybe being in a different environment would end those dreams that remind her of the accident. In her eyes, California was the perfect place to move and restart her life, somewhere where no one knew her as Kono Kalakaua from the Five-0 Task-force. In California, people would know her simply as Kono Kalakaua, a regular girl.

So she made her decision. Kono Kalakaua was leaving Hawaii for California. The mortgage on her house was already paid off but she was going to keep the house, in case she ever did decide to return to Hawaii.

The way she was leaving would upset her family but it was the only way. Besides it wasn't like she wasn't going to leave them clues to where she was. There was going to be a note left in the kitchen where her Ohana would read that she left.

Explaining why she was leaving would be painful for her so if they wanted to talk to her, they could once she checked into the hotel.

As Kono packed the last of her things, she felt tears roll down her cheeks. It was painful to leave the only place she ever called home but mentally she knew it was for the best. No one knew she was leaving. The note left in the kitchen was the only clue that she hadn't been kidnapped by Delano or killed. She knew Steve, Danny, and Chin would be upset maybe even angry at her for leaving without saying a word to anyone but she hoped they would understand and forgive her.

Maybe one day she would be able to return to Hawaii and feel safe but for now she would leave and hopefully find safety in California.

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**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review! I accept anonymous.**

**So this is kind of like a filler chapter. Next chapter will be way longer because I'll putting in a lot of information.**

**In the next chapter...**

**-We see Kono in California**  
**-A little bit of Kono's new life in Cali**  
**-Five-0 finds out she's gone**  
**-Steve's thoughts on her departure**

**Here's a preview of the next chapter...**

_**"Hey anyone seen Kono?" Chin asked as he walked into HQ.**_

_**"No. Did you go to her house?" Danny asked.**_

_**"Yeah. No one is there. I asked the neighbors and all of them said, they hadn't seen her in days" Chin said.**_

_**"Something isn't right," Steve said.**_

**I know it's not much of a preview but if I made it longer then I'd spoil what happens.**

**McKono, Mikita, Crowen,**  
**Nina**


	3. Ashton, Los Angeles, and realizations

**Hi guys. Sorry for taking so long with this chapter but when I was writing it up I realized I had written chapter 3 instead of chapter 2 so I had to go in and create chapter 2 and then I was going to upload it yesterday but since it was my birthday, I got caught up with things so yeah.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Any questions, just leave them in the review. (:**

* * *

**Location: Los Angeles, California**

"Please buckle your seat-belts. We're about to land at Los Angeles International Airport," One of the flight attendants said through the loud speaker.

Kono had stayed up through most of the flight, only taking a short nap. It had been an 8 hour, one way flight. She had chosen to take first class at night, since it was cheaper and better for her. She wasn't a big drinker but she had drink a few long-boards and watched a few movies and even eaten a few meals.

After packing her bags, Kono had finally gone to the house where Adam was and told him it was over. It was a hard decision, considering she had loved Adam, but the accident had changed her feelings and she wasn't one to have a long distance relationship. She had endangered her career by being with Adam and the guilt of lying to her Ohana nearly killed her. After explaining to Adam that they couldn't be together, she left feeling like she could breathe again.

In a way, she couldn't believe she was leaving the island she had grown to call her home but in another, she knew it was for the best. She felt like a 18 year old leaving home and feeling all giddy yet nervous about it. It was a new feeling for her because she had never really experienced it. When she left her parents house, she bought a new house not far from her parents. Now she was leaving the state and moving to another, without her parents knowledge. Her heart felt free because up to now, she was known only as 'that Five-0 cop' or 'the cousin of the dirty cop'. In California, she wouldn't be neither of those. Just Kono Kalakaua, a surfer from Hawaii. It was a nice ring to the name and she smiled thinking about all the opportunities she would have.

If she needed any help or favors, she could call her friends from NCIS. She knew their location was right in Los Angeles and she still had their numbers from the last time they came to help Five-0 out. It would be fun to get to see them again and meet the rest of NCIS.

"Welcome to Los Angeles where the local time is approximatly 6:30am. We will be taxing for a few more minutes, so please remain in your seat with your seat-belt fastened until the captain has parked us at the gate and turned off the seat-belt sign. On behalf of your plane crew, we thank you for flying with us today. We hope you have a great day," The flight attendant said through the loud speaker.

* * *

"Kono Kalakaua," the man said grinning as he opened his arms as she rushed over to him.

"Ashton!" she squealed hugging the older man. Ashton Branson was a muscular 35 year old real-estate agent. He had light brown hair and icy green eyes and was 5'9 in height.

"You've grown from the last time I saw you," he said as his driver took Kono's luggage and placed it in the trunk of the town car.

"And you've changed. Taller and richer?" she asked.

"Oh yes. I've made it big in the real-estate business," he smiled.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

She nodded before the two got into the town car.

"So where do you plan on staying?"

"The JW Marriott in Santa Monica,"

"Reservation?"

"Yup. Though I'm not checking into until 3pm,"

"Perfect. We can have lunch, look at some houses I found for you, and look around Los Angeles,"

"Could we squeeze in maybe going to a rescue organization?" she asked.

"Of course. Your adopting a pet?"

"I've been thinking about doing that so maybe,"

"Then I know the rescue organization for you," He smiled.

"Beer?" he asked dangling a long-board.

"No thanks. I had enough on the plane,"

"Mile high club?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"No! I wouldn't do that. I'm not 22 anymore,"

"Your right. Your 29,"

"Exactly. Wait what?," she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm not saying your old or anything, I'm saying you've matured and I'm proud,"

"Thank you. Becoming a cop helped in that department," she smiled. He began to choke on his food.

"Your a cop now?" he exclaimed, throwing his hand over his mouth at his outburst.

"Yeah. Five-0 cop. I'm on leave for a while, or forever,"

"Wow. You've changed. You went from surfer girl to officer girl. Congrats,"

"Bad thing or good thing?"

"Depends,"

"on what?"

"On how fun you are now,"

"I'm still fun,"

"Isn't your boss one of those stuck up strict guys or girls?"

"Nope. He's nice and uh young,"

"Nice? Nice my ass. Now talk, Kalakaua and tell me about this boss of yours,"

"His name is Steve McGarrett,"

"Strong name,"

"Yeah. He's a former SEAL with a good heart. He's not like other bosses who treat you like crap, he's... different. He has this smile that makes you melt and his eyes are a hazel brown that change color,"

"Oh you got a crush? I'm hurt that you've moved on from your major crush on me," He feigned hurt. She playfully slapped him on the chest.

"Maybe but it doesn't matter anymore. And I never had a major crush on you!,"

"Come on, don't deny something that's true babe. You had a major crush on me and you know it,"

"And why does it no longer matter?" he scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Something happened that changed who I am now. I don't want to talk about it." she looked away from him.

"Okay. Whenever your ready, I'm here,"

He turned to the driver, "Drive us to a restaurant, something seafood," he ordered.

"Got it, sir," the driver replied.

* * *

After lunch, they headed towards some of the houses, Alex had picked out.

"This three bed-room, two bathroom house sits on two acres of land. It has a swimming pool along with a large . You have a wonderful view of Los Angeles," He explained as they walked through the house.

"It's more like a mansion Alex,"

"Eh, I see it as a house, so no?"

"Nope. I want something near the beach or even on the beach,"

"Okay. Let's see," he said as they left the house.

**Minutes Later...**

"How about this one? Two bedroom, two floors, two bathroom, house that sits right on the beach? It's right on the beach well near it. It's pretty much on the beach," Alex said handing her the Ipad as they stood in the living room of the house.

"I'll take it," Kono said as she glanced at the house.

"Awesome. Now let me talk to the banks and I'll get you the best deal possible, maybe even a little discount. Believe me, I've been trying to sell this house for a year and a half. The economy really isn't in it's best mood right now for real-estate people so getting this house of the banks hands will be a pleasure," Alex said as he grabbed his phone.

"Give me a minute to call a few people and see how long this process will take for you. Hey, I may even be able to speed it up a bit," He winked at her before walking into the other room.

Kono looked around the house and began to imagine how she would change it to her liking. Maybe add a few paintings of surfing and the ocean and five-0 to the walls so when someone walked in, they would first see, a portrait of her old team, then surfing and ocean paintings. As she walked around the house, she started to imagine herself living here. The thought no longer sounded foreign to her. She laughed, thinking about the countless times she'd told everyone she could never leave Hawaii and now she was in different state, restarting her life.

One of the perks she liked about this house was the security keypad/intercom. Though it was a small walk in gate, it was nice to have something to further protect herself. It was a dark Grey color house, two floors, modern and practically on the beach.

"Hey! Kono! Baby!" Ashton called out.

"Oh sorry. I was thinking," she apologized.

"No it's fine. I landed on a deal price with the banks. It's quite a deal for this type of house so you wouldn't be smart-"

"Just say the word, Ash. No need to go all elementary on me," she crossed her arms.

"Okay. You'd be stupid not to take the deal the banks are offering. Note I fought tooth and nail with these people. I had the price for this house nearly cut in half for you," Ashton began.

"The price?" she asked. He handed her the Ipad and she looked at the price, her eyes slightly widening before handing back the tablet to him.

"I'll buy it. What do I sign?,"

"A few things at the banks and a few things with me," Ashton began.

* * *

**Location: Hawaii Five-0 Headquarters  
**  
"Hey. Has anyone heard from Kono?" Chin asked as he walked into Five-0.

"Yeah. A few days ago I spoke to her," Danny said.

"Did she say anything?" Steve asked.

"Nope. Everything was normal. She sounded okay to me," Danny shrugged.

"She's not answering her house phone," Chin said.

"Let me try her cellphone," Steve said as he dialed her number. Seconds later he ended the call and looked at Chin and Danny.

"The number has been disconnected," Steve told them.

"Something isn't right," Chin said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Danny said already grabbing his keys and phone.

"Let's go give Kono a visit," Steve said as he walked out with Chin and Danny behind him.

* * *

**Location: Kono's house  
**  
"I'm going to check the back and see if I can get in through there," Chin told Steve who nodded.

"Kono! Open up! It's us!" Steve shouted banging on the door.

"No one is answering," Danny said crossing his arms.

"No shit," Steve said as he began to pick the lock.

"You know it's not polite to enter a premises without a key or permission. Can we just act like normal cops and find the hidden key?" Danny suggested.

A few seconds later the sound of a door clicking open was heard.

"Nope because we're Five-0" Steve answered before he took out his gun and pushed the door open.

"So? We're still officers of the law! Minus the nice name!" Danny exclaimed as he took out his gun.

"If you want, on our way home, you can talk to me all about this stuff," Steve said before he entered.

"Kono!" Steve yelled.

"I'll take the back and her room and you take here and whatever else is here," Steve ordered.

He opened her room door with caution and entered. He looked around and poked at things.

"Clear!" He heard Chin and Danny yell out.

"Clear!" He yelled back.

"Did you find anything?" Chin asked as he walked into Kono's room.

"No," Steve answered.

"But I did," Danny said as he walked into the room, dangling a note in his hand.

"What are you waiting for? Read it," Steve said impatiently.

"To my Ohana, I'm sorry but I can't be here anymore. Sincerely, Kono Kalakaua," Danny read out-loud.

"She's gone" Chin said. Danny nodded.

"It doesn't look forged or anything," Danny said as he looked at the note, looking for anything that told him otherwise.

"Some of her clothes are gone along with some personal items," Steve noted motioning towards the half empty closet.

"It explains why some of the photos and books in the living-room are gone," Chin said as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Why would she leave?" Steve asked himself.

"I wouldn't blame her for doing so," Chin spoke.

"Why?" Steve asked narrowing his eyes at the man.

Chin looked up at Steve, "Two, maybe even three weeks ago, Delano's gang kidnapped her and Malia. It was during the time where you disappeared to find Shelbourne. I had Delano released in exchange for Kono's whereabouts because he taken her. When I took him to his destination, he showed me on a computer Malia and Kono. Both were duct taped and at gun-point by Delano's gang. He told me to choose one but that I couldn't choose both so I choose Malia. Kono was more capable of getting out of the situation while Malia probably wouldn't be able to. Delano warned me that if I tried to contact you or Danny or HPD that he would have them both killed. When I got home, Malia had been shot and barely alive. I called HPD for an ambulance and waited. I didn't know where Kono was until later on that night. HPD had found her on the front lawn of a house near a beach after receiving a disturbance call from the owner of the house stating someone was on the lawn,"

"HPD told me that she was barely alive when they found her. She had bruises on her wrists and ankles from the duct tape and some other issues with her. She was thrown overboard from a boat two miles out shore. The doctors had to put her in a coma for nearly a week so some of her injuries could heal. She woke up like 5 days after she was brought in but the doctor still counted it as a 'week' of recovery. ,"

"Why am I being informed now?" Steve crossed his arms, anger clear in his face.

"You were the one off in whatever island playing Dora and Diego's adventure with Joe. When you came back, Kono had been released from the hospital and back home. _You _didn't ask anything about where Kono was,"

"When I came back on the island, the governor informed me that Kono was on leave of absence. He didn't inform me that she had been in an accident. One of you should have told me so I could have talked to her. For the last week, I assumed she was on vacation or visiting family. I had no idea she was at home, dealing with the aftermath of an accident," He put his hand on his hip and used the other hand run it over his face.

"Aftermath?" Danny asked.

"A traumatic experience like the one she was in, is something you don't just get over in a day or two. It's with you for the rest of your life,"

"Okay we're sorry we didn't tell you, Super Seal," Danny apologized putting his hands up in defense.

"I'm sorry, Steve. I assumed you knew," Chin said as he placed his face in his hands.

"It's alright. All is forgiven," Steve said.

"Let's go. When we get back to HQ, I want you two to check her credit cards for any purchases made out of island. Any flights, any cars, anything," He ordered.

* * *

**Location: Hawaii Five-0 Headquarters**  
**Time: 5:34pm**

"Anything?" Steve asked as he came out of his office.

"She bought a first class plane ticket for Los Angeles, California, five days ago. She left on the same day and arrived there at 6:30am. At 3:05pm of the same day she checked into the JW Marriott Hotel in Santa Monica, also paid with credit card. I ran her through the system for any long term purchases and found out she's currently in the process of buying a two bedroom house right on the beach in Santa Monica," He pulled up the picture of the house.

"It's a damn good looking house but yeah, she's currently staying in the Marriott and she's not scheduled to check out for another two or three days," Danny said.

"Get me on the next flight out to L.A," Steve ordered the two.

"Wait what? Your going?" Danny asked.

"Yeah. Danny, your in charge of Five-0. I'm going to see the governor and then pack and when I arrive at HNL, I'm getting on a plane to Los Angeles,"

"Can't we stay and create a plan of action before we spring on her? Well you spring on her all of sudden?" Danny called out as Steve was leaving.

"No!"

"Of course not!" Danny exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air.

"Call Sam Hanna! Let him know, I'll be in L.A within twelve hours!" Steve yelled over his shoulder.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review! I accept anonymous.**

**Originally I was going to show how Kono's life is but I decided to take a different route on that.**

**Anyways. Review!**

**McKono, Mikita, Crowen,**

**Nina**


	4. Sam, Guns, and Dogs

**Hey guys!**

**I was going to upload this tomorrow after I go through it more to make sure it actually makes sense but I realized that I won't be able to upload this tomorrow so I decided I'll just upload it today.**

**Enjoy!**

**Spelling and Grammar mistakes are all mine.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or Sam Hanna from NCIS**

**No this will not be a crossover. I mean, some characters from NCIS will make some appearances but this mostly be sticking with Hawaii Five-0.**

* * *

"Steve McGarrett. Welcome to Los Angeles," Sam smiled as Steve walked up to his car. They shook hands before they shared a manly hug.

"Thanks Sam. Good to see you again,"

"You too, McG. I missed you while Callen and I were in Hawaii,"

"Yeah. Sorry, I was on leave for a personal matter,"

"I heard. I met your partner, Danny. He needs a little training on his driving though. His wrist was in the wrong place,"

"He likes to work by the books and doesn't enjoy being told what to do. But good to know you met the rest of my team,"

"And now I know where to call you if I ever need anything or I need to remind you of that state dinner, you still owe me. Uh yeah after I commented on his wrist he replied with what i recall as 'what's with navy seals and backseat driving?'. I don't really get the guy. He's a good guy but he didn't even have a name for his car. I helped him with that," He grinned.

"Danny doesn't like to be told how to do things and he's not the type to name his car," Steve said as he placed his luggage in trunk of Sam's car.

* * *

"So have you talked to Kono?"

"Kalakaua?" he asked. Steve nodded.

"She's a bad-ass, that's a fact. Good surfer too. I've been in touch with her along with the rest of the team. I think, yesterday she caught lunch with Kensi. Why?" Sam said as he drove.

"I just wanted to see if she had gotten in contact with anyone,"

"You crushing on the rookie Steve?"

"No. I'm simply worrying about the health of one of my teammates. She moved here for many reasons and I'm not about to let her just disappear,"

"Whatever you say McG. I like her for you. She's the kind of girl you need to settle down with. She's bad-ass, a surfer, she's pretty much you, in female form, minus the SEAL training," He grinned.

Steve ignored the comment and decided to change the subject, "So how's NCIS?"

"Great. Besides the cases that end up with civilian deaths. How's Five-0? Word on the grape-vine is that Five-0 had a shake-up,"

"Yeah. A known dirty ex-cop kidnapped Kono and Malia, Chin's wife then threw Kono overboard and shot Malia. Chin barely came back last week. He had been on leave since the accident happened to help Malia recover,"

"You didn't know. You shouldn't blame yourself or feel bad for it," he glanced at Steve.

"No I didn't. I barely found out a few hours ago. I'm suppose to be a leader but I didn't even know the reason why Kono had gone on leave. Since it was only Danny and I handling the cases, HQ was chaotic," Steve ran his hand over his face sighing.

"Steve, it's not your fault. Now all you can do, is help her out which is what I'm assuming your here for? Besides the bringing her back part?"

"Pretty much,"

"Awesome. You have her address?"

"Yeah. Both of them,"

"Good,"

* * *

Kono heard knocking on her door and quickly got a gun from the drawer nearby. It had become a regular thing for her. The German shepherd quickly began barking and followed her as she slowly walked to the door and looked into the peep-hole. Standing impatiently was Steve McGarrett in his regular attire. She gasped and quickly placed her gun in the drawer near the door before beginning to unlock every lock on her door while her dog stood protective beside her. When she had first moved in, she had made sure to buy every type of door lock. Even though she wasn't in Hawaii, she was still paranoid and fearful that Delano was going to find her. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised that he didn't use the keypad/intercom that the house had to let her know he was here. It was a simple thing that came with the house. He was lucky, he hadn't set off the alarm because she didn't need to scare the new neighbors. Then again, he was a SEAL, he probably knew how to trick the system.

Kono had adopted the German shepherd/Belgian malinois mix from an rescue organization on the day she arrived in LA. She had always wanted a dog but with Five-0, she didn't want to leave the dog by itself but now, she was no longer part of Five-0, so she decided to adopt a dog. She had walked into the rescue organization, without a pet and walked out with one. She was hesitant to get a German shepherd at first, but after half an hour, 5 year old young male had a spot in her heart. He was shy but quickly warmed up to her in the last few days. He was also protective of her and she had learned, he could sense danger very easily. She named the German shepherd, Alemana, the Hawaiian word for 'warrior'. He was house-trained along with some other things.

She opened the door, quickly, seeing Steve was about 10 seconds away from breaking it down.

"Steve, what are you doing here?" She asked, wrapping the thin cardigan tighter around her. The dog looked at Steve, as if seeing if he was of any danger to her. Kono didn't know whether to be angry or surprised or both. She had expected Danny or Chin but not Steve. She hadn't seen him since before the accident and she thought he didn't care.

"May I come in?" Steve asked, completely aware of the dog looking at him. He seemed unfazed by the glaring dog next to her.

"It's not like it would stop you but I'm warning you, he bites" she said as she stroked the dog.

"It's okay. He's no danger," she told the dog, giving him a treat.

"Let him sniff you," She told Steve who in return knelt and placed his hand out for the dog to sniff.

The dog slowly began to sniff his hand before turning to it's original post next to Kono.

"He's protective," Kono told him.

"I can tell," Steve said.

"His name is Alemana," Kono said.

"Warrior in Hawaiian," he said remembering.

"Yeah,"

"He's trained correct?" Steve asked. She nodded.

"I adopted him from an rescue organization. He's young but protective and trained very well,"

"That's good," Steve said. Kono nodded and turned heading towards the living-room. Alemana stayed behind and looked at Steve, ready to spring into action.

Once he turned to close the door behind him, did he notice the amount of door locks. He quickly counted and saw there were 4 locks including the door knob itself. He quickly locked them and as he turned to walk towards the living-room, he took note of the house.

It was big, with beige walls and paintings of the ocean and surfboards aligning them. A photo of the team was among one of them on the wall. The floors were red oak hardwood and there was a small stair-case leading up to the second floor. As he looked around, he saw more of Kono's personality in the house. It was simple yet it showed her love of surfing. A few boxes were scattered around all with different labels.

He quickly went into the living-room which had a two tone sectional sofa with a matching chair and carpet. A large flat screen TV hung on the wall facing the sofa and chair. It was clearly new as it still had the protective screen on it and the energy sticker. A dog bed along with a bowl of food and water sat near the sofa.

It was twice as big as her old house which was only a one bedroom, and one floor house.

Kono sat on the edge of the sofa, her legs tucked under her, watching him as he sat down on the sofa chair facing her. Alemana took a seat on the floor by Kono, watching Steve and her.

"Excuse the mess, I'm still unpacking and moving things," Kono apologized.

"It's no problem,"

"Your a SEAL and your Steve, you hate messes. I can tell your dying to start cleaning and organizing," Kono said a slight smile on her face.

He chuckled, "That's true. The house looks expensive.." he trailed on.

"I have a friend here who hooked me up with the house. No one was buying the house so my friend was able to cut a deal with the banks. Let's just say, the banks were more then willing to get the house out of their hands," she smiled slightly.

"Where were you staying before?"

"You know where. I used my credit card a few days ago and it showed up. That's how you found me,"

"Okay. I know. I also know your still checked in,"

"I'm staying there a few days while I finish signing some papers with the banks and such,"

"Your not done yet?" he asked.

"Nope. I have the keys but it's not exactly livable yet. I'm still waiting for some things to be put up. Plus some of the furniture hasn't arrived yet. So I prefer to stay in the hotel where I have TV, electricity, and a working kitchen,"

"Your replacing some things?" He asked to clarify.

"Yeah. The oven is a few years old and it doesn't work so I'm waiting for a new one to arrive and be put in along with a few other items,"

"It's a lot of money. How can you pay for it?"

"Some inheritance, savings, and money from working at Five-0,"

"Oh. So your not staying here?"

she shook her head, "I only came here to try to unpack some things. I'm going back to the hotel and hang out over there,"

"Oh,"

"Yeah"

"So how have you been?" Steve asked.

"Good, better," she replied.

"The view you have is amazing," he complimented referring to the ocean front view.

"Its a perk. One of my favorites of this place. That's why I picked it,"

"Do you like it here?" He asked. She nodded.

"I feel safe. I'm myself here. So far I'm living a good low-profile life,"

"Oh. Better then Hawaii?"

"No but it's close. I have the NCIS team, my real-estate friend, the cashier girl at the grocery store, and everyone is nice here. I don't have to worry about being shot, because no one knows who I am. No one I'm just a normal girl that moved here. No one knows I'm a former cop besides my real-estate friend and NCIS,"

He nodded, understanding.

"You talked to Sam, didn't you?" she said. He nodded.

"He picked me up from the airport when I arrived,"

She nodded and silence fell over them.

"Why are you here? Why now? You didn't seem to care about what was going on with me when I was in Hawaii, why do you care now?" she asked, finally getting the guts to ask the question that was on her mind since he showed up.

"I didn't know you had been in an accident. When I came back on the island, you had been already released and Chin was on leave of absence. The governor informed me that you were on leave for a while. I didn't press on the issue further which I regret not doing so. I couldn't see you or even ask what was going on because Danny and I were the only ones doing cases. HQ was chaotic and it was still chaotic when Chin arrived. Yesterday or a few hours ago, Chin came in worried about you asking if anyone had seen or heard from you. We went to your house and broke in after you didn't answer. We searched the house and at first we thought you had been kidnapped. Danny found the note you left and it was then that Chin and Danny told me of what happened while I was gone. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. You have no idea how sorry I am for not at least checking up on you with a text or even a call. The reason I'm here is to bring you back to Hawaii," he said.

"No wonder, you didn't even know. I forgive you for not knowing because you came all the way here just to see me but Steve, it hurt a lot to be sometimes alone. Danny had time to see me. Even though it was a little while,"

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say,"

"Exactly," Kono said.

"I'm not coming back there, Steve. Delano is still out there and I'm safer here-," Kono crossed her arms.

"We can find him together and we will bring him back to prison where he belongs," he interjected.

"I'll even let you torture him a little," he added.

"No. Steve I don't feel safe in Hawaii. That's the point. When I went home from the hospital, I barely slept. I became someone else who was always looking over her shoulder and taking out her gun in public when she thought there was someone from Delano's gang following her. HPD had begun to be called so many times, that I had to wear my badge to avoid HPD arriving. I can't go back. Not now. I'm happier here. I've actually been able to sleep in a way," Kono explained.

"I could have a HPD patrol car outside your house. You could stay with me or-"

"No. I know I won't feel safe either way. I need time to find myself again because right now, I barely know who I am. The nightmares and emotional scars are the reasons why I can't forget that night. That night changed me,"

"Why didn't you tell us about this? We could have helped you," Steve said as he moved to the sofa and took her hand in his.

"You were away, Chin was with Malia, and Danny was with Rachel and the kids. I didn't want to be a bother. Besides what would telling you or anyone else do besides make you guys think I've gone crazy? I'm dealing with this my way,"

"Your way is moving to a different state and leaving behind your life. Your running away from the issue, not facing it. You could see a therapist or a counselor,"

"No. I'm not running, I'm taking a well needed break from Five-0 and Hawaii. As far as I'm concerned, Delano's gang is still out there, waiting for me. It's only a matter of time before they figure out I'm alive and not dead," Kono said, pulling her hand away.

"Kono," he began.

"No. I'm not going back," she spat as tears filled her eyes.

"I won't be safe until he's locked up in maximum prison or he's dead," she hissed, furiously wiping away at the tears.

"Okay. I'll stay here with you then and help you get better," Steve said as he quickly embraced her.

"No. I'll be fine. I can deal with things here by myself," Kono replied as Steve pulled back.

"No. I'm staying here with you. I'm not going anymore okay?" Steve said.

"What about Five-0?" She asked, worried that Steve would be fired.

"Danny will run Five-0 while I'm gone. Don't worry about a single thing. The governor is aware that I took a leave of absence," he assured her. She nodded.

"It's getting late. I have to go back to my hotel," She said as she stood up.

"Why? It's barely 6," he said as he checked his watch.

"Yeah I know but I have to walk there,"

"No. No. I'll drive you. Hetty lend me a truck so I'll drive you,"

"You don't have to,"

"I want to. I need to check into the hotel anyways,"

"I have another bed in the room. You can sleep there. I mean you don't have to but I rather save you money then have you stay at a hotel so," She suggested.

"Thanks. I'll drive us over there then," Steve said as he stood up.

"Okay. We will have to take Alemana with us," Kono said motioning towards the dog.

"No problem. I wouldn't leave Alemana here even if you did want him to stay here," Steve chuckled.

"Come on Alemana," Kono clapped her hands and the dog immediately stood up. She grabbed the leach and the two left the house.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review! I accept anonymous.**

**So pretty much Steve arrived in L.A and met up with Sam Hanna who told him about Kono and stuff. So Steve showed up at Kono's and they talked and Steve met Kono's newest companion, Alemana(Hawaiian word for Warrior), a German Shepherd that's house-trained and a lot of other stuff.**

**McKono, Mikita, Crowen,**

**Nina**


	5. Routines, Food, and Moving Day

**Hi guys.**

**Here's the next chapter. It's moving somewhat fast but I really want to get to the main plot of this story.**

**By the way: For the stake of the story, Nate(NCIS:LA psychologist) is still with the team. Plus I kinda liked him and I was sad when I found out that he left.**

**Sorry for not updating in like forever but life got in the way and Comic Con on twitter(I didn't move from my PC until the end of my favorite panel ended).**

**Anyways, I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or NCIS:LA.**

**Not a crossover, just some guest appearances.**

**Spelling/Grammar errors are mine.**

* * *

Steve woke up at his usual time of 5am. He didn't want to disturb Kono but figured out she was already awake by the smell of coffee and the fact that her bed was empty. He pulled the covers off of himself and walked out of the room and towards the kitchen/living-room.

"What are you making?" He asked from the doorway. Kono turned and a blush filled her cheeks seeing him shirtless.

"coffee," and she turned back to the coffee maker.

"you've seen me shirtless you know," Steve began as he joined her.

"Yeah, it's just, uh, forget it," she turned back to her cup of coffee. She grabbed another mug and put some coffee in it. Just as he was going to ask her something, there was a knock on the door. The two looked at each-other before Kono nodded and went to see who it was.

She opened the door to see Kensi. Steve came up from behind Kono, still shirtless.

"Hey Kono and Steve," she looked between them, a glint in her eye.

"Sorry Kono, I didn't know you had company," she smiled. It was the kind of smile a friend would give someone when they knew they had done it.

Steve and Kono looked at each-other, knowing exactly what Kensi thought they had done.

"No! Kensi it's not what it looks like," Steve insisted.

"Yeah. We didn't uh, we didn't you know,"

"We didn't have sex with each-other," Steve blurted out, seeing that Kono wouldn't tell her.

Kensi placed her hands up in defense, "Whatever you two do together in this hotel is your business but I suggest not answering the door after a night of sex,"

"But we didn't have sex," Kono sighed.

"Sure. Whatever you say," she grinned.

"Why are you here again?" Steve asked, a raised eyebrow.

"Geez, McGarrett, I don't remember you being all pushy with me. If you guys aren't done 'not having sex' then tell me and I'll leave. No need to be all hostile with me," she spoke.

"I was just here to visit Kono but since your here, I think I'll come by later," and with that Kensi turned on her heel and began walking down the hallway.

After Steve closed the door, Kono turned towards him, "Great, thanks, now she thinks we're having sex together,"

He shrugged, "Nothing wrong,"

"How is that right?" she slapped his chest and he feigned hurt.

"We're not sex buddies but she thinks and let's just let Kensi think that even know we both know the truth," Steve explained. Kono simply shook her head before heading towards the bedroom and changing.

"Your going running?" he asked motioning towards her clothes once she joined him back in the kitchen. She nodded.

"Part of my daily routine. Want to join me?" she asked.

"Sure. Let me get ready," he said before going back to the room to change.

* * *

"So you do this everyday?" Steve asked as they raced down the board-walk.

"Yeah. Keeps me in shape. It's normal here for people to be running and working out," Kono replied.

The two had been running for the past half hour after stretching.

"That's true," Steve said looking at other runners and joggers around.

"Yup. It's fun," Kono said as she stopped and began to speed-walk.

"That's true," Steve agreed.

"How's Malia?" she asked trying to ease the tension between them. It was clear there were still some unspoken words between them.

"She's good, recovering from what I'm told," Steve answered.

"Oh. That's good. She didn't deserve what happened to her,"

"Neither did you,"

She shrugged. Steve opened his mouth to protest but decided against it. He was going to talk to her about this later but not now when they were having fun together.

"Have you talked to Chin?" Steve asked, wondering whether to press on the touchy subject of her cousin and herself.

"No. I haven't had the time,"

Steve nodded, knowing she was lying about it but decided against further pressing on the subject.

"What's next?"

"Grocery shopping,"

"You don't surf?," He asked, gently.

She shook her head no, "The water is no longer my friend,"

"What do you mean?" Steve crossed his arms, tilting his head.

"I don't like surfing anymore,"

"You love it, Kono. Your water woman,"

"No I don't. Not anymore," she whispered. Steve barely heard her.

"Why?" He knew the answer but he wanted her to say it in her own words.

"That night when I nearly drowned, changed me. I don't look at the water like I used to. I look at it as the thing that nearly killed me,"

"Delano was the one who-"

"It doesn't matter. I don't want to go in the water,"

"Then why did you move to California?"

"I have friends here. I don't have to worry about certain things. Delano thinks I'm dead, moving here was the easiest for me,"

"Okay. Why are you living on a house that's close to the beach?"

"I may not surf anymore, but I can still walk on the beach. I like watching other surfers enjoy the water. I keep a safe distance from the water though,"

"You have to get rid of this fear, Kono," He told her placing his hand on her forearm.

She shrugged him off, "No. It's not a fear. It's not a weakness,"

"Then what is it?" Steve demanded.

"I-I don't know what it is,"

"Exactly. It's okay to have flaws. It's okay to be afraid. There's nothing wrong if your afraid of the water,"

"I'm not afraid, Steve. I keep my distance to protect myself,"

"From who? The water? The ocean?"

"Forget it. I don't want to talk about it right now,"

"Eventually we will have to talk about it,"

"Whatever. Just drop the subject and let's have fun,"

He nodded, agreeing with her, yet she knew, this wasn't the end of the discussion. After a while of silence, she broke it by speaking again.

"Last one to the end of the board-walk, buys the winner dinner," She smiled.

"May I remind you that I'm a SEAL?" he pointed out, stopping and placed his hands on his hips.

"You scared that I'm going to beat you?" she smirked.

"Is that a challenge Kalakaua?"

"I don't know, Commander. Is it?" she asked.

"I say it is," Steve grinned.

"Fine,"

"On the count of 3-" Kono began to race down the board-walk then.

"Not now!" he called out before taking off down the board-walk towards her.

"You said on the count of 3! and you said 3!" She yelled over her shoulder, seeing Steve hot on her heels. She pushed herself and finally made it to the end.

"I won!" she yelled, jumping up and down, as Steve came up to her.

"I guess I owe you dinner,"

"Did you let me win?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. You don't know," he winked before passing past her.

"You still owe me dinner," Kono said catching up to him.

"And I'll buy you dinner," He said.

"Just don't forget your wallet,"

"I won't"

"That's what you told Danny and you still forgot your wallet," she poked him in the chest playfully with her index finger.

* * *

After their run, the two headed into the local grocery store.

"Everyday you come in here?" Steve asked, pushing the cart.

"It's organic. You should be proud. Better then buying junk food," she smiled brightly up at him.

"That's a fact but shopping here everyday shouldn't be a routine,"

She shrugged, grabbing a few apples, "I see no problem besides the fact that I spend some money here everyday. I'm new to this city, and I still don't have a house that's livable, yet. Once I get the hand of where everything is and how to avoid getting lost then I'll stop coming here so much," she explained.

"Okay. What else do you need?"

"Tea, some granola bars and whatever else I find,"

"Tea?" he asked, wanting to make sure he was hearing her right.

"Tea. T-e-a. Tea. That's what I also need,"

"You hate Tea," Steve crossed his arms, stopping the cart.

"I hated tea. Now I love it. It's calming," she smiled before pushing the cart and leaving Steve behind. Steve quickly caught up to her, and grabbed a few things off the shelf.

"Cereal?" she asked.

"You don't have some and I like cereal, so I'm getting some cereal," he answered.

After a few minutes of shopping the two headed towards the cashier.

"Hey Kono," the cashier girl greeted.

"Who's this?" She asked referring to Steve.

"Steve meet Liz," she introduced them.

"Hi," Liz smiled, flirtatiously.

"Hello," he greeted.

"The total will be $35.78," She told them. Steve handed her a credit card before Kono could.

"Steve, you don't have to pay for me. I can pay for my own groceries," she crossed her arms.

"No. I don't mind," he said grabbing the bags and carrying them out.

"Where did you pick up this guy from Kono? He's perfect and not to mention, hot by my standards!" Liz gushed.

"You could say, he dropped in all of a sudden. I'll see you later," Kono told her before leaving.

* * *

**Two Days Later  
Location: Kono's house**

"Where do you want this?" Deeks asked as he and Sam carried the mattress through the door.

"That's the queen sized mattress right?" Kono asked looking for the label.

"How are we suppose to know?" Deeks asked.

"Read the label," Kensi said as she walked by carrying some bags.

"Yes that's the queen sized one," Kono said once she found the label.

"Where does it go?" Sam asked.

"Upstairs, first bedroom on your right,"

"What about this one?" Callen asked as he and Eric carried in another mattress.

"That's the king sized one so the second bedroom on your left," Kono ordered.

"There's three bedrooms?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, but the 3rd one I'm using it as the guest bedroom,"

Today was moving day for Kono and well Steve. She had decided that he couldn't live in a hotel spending money everyday when she had two extra bedrooms and a large basement if you count it as a room. So now he was living with her for the next few weeks. It wouldn't be that hard since she was used to seeing him everyday at HQ and at team barbeque's/Dinners.

The NCIS team including Nate had been given a day off to help her move in things.

"What about the TV?" Steve asked as he and Nate walked in with a large box.

"My bedroom. The second one goes in yours," she said.

Kono had insisted on helping but Steve and the rest had told her that it was better if she just ordered them around, since it was likely they would be asking where things go.

"Now it's looking like a home," Callen said from behind her.

"Yeah. No longer empty and lonely,"

"Where does this coffee maker go?" He asked holding up the box.

"In the kitchen, on the counter,"

"Deeks and I are definitely coming over on Friday nights for sports night!" Eric yelled from upstairs.

"I guess they took out the TV," Kensi said.

"Yup,"

"I secretly know your new dog scares the living daylights out of Deeks. Use him if you don't want him in the house," Kensi laughed.

"Good advice,"

"Yeah. So you and McGarrett?" Kensi asked watching the guys carry the stuff in.

"We're not sleeping together,"

"I see the looks between you two and it definitely says something,"

"You saw us once in the morning a few days ago,"

"Yes but I also saw the looks Steve was giving you today. That definitely says he likes you so go for it,"

"How do you know I like him?"

"Kono, judging by how you didn't kick his ass for coming to Los Angeles and your letting the guy who hates messes and likes order in a house, you like him. May I remind you, I was here when you told him, he could stay with you as long as he wants to? You looked like you were afraid he was going to say no. I also called Danny and he even told me that back when you were with Five-0, before your accident, how you guys gave each-other, little looks. He even mentioned what you called him on his birthday. 'birthday boy'? Double meaning," Kensi grinned, nudging her in the ribs.

"Whatever you say,"

"One of these days, I'm going to have you admit it. I'm Kensi Blye, I don't give up,"

"Okay, well I'll admit it when you admit you like Deeks,"

"So you like Steve," Kensi said.

"Yes, I like him. Now admit it, you like Deeks," Kono smirked.

"We're partners. That's it," Kensi put her hands in defense.

"Your more then partners, Kens. Everyone knows it. You two flirt, talk, and tease each-other. Don't think I don't what's going on,"

"Whatever Kono. I'll fix my lack of a love life when you fix yours,"

"I don't have a love-life right now,"

"You will a very hot love-life, if you and McGarrett become an item,"

"Why are you so determined on getting us together?" Kono crossed her arms.

"Because you two are perfect for each-other. Same work environment, stubborn, bad-ass, and the list goes on. You both deserve happiness," Kensi told her before grabbing the box on the floor next to her feet and walking up the stairs.

"Remember what I told you!" she called out before disappearing up the stairs.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Drop a review!**

**I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I kind of not like it and then I like it.**

**Anyways, leave a review. I accept anonymous.**

**Next Chapter: Steve's POV or his thoughts on L.A and Kono. We will also see Steve deal with some of Kono's problems, or fears. Also Steve's takes Kono out for dinner.**

**McKono, Mikita, Crowen,**  
**Nina**


	6. Nightmares, Shopping, & Nate

**Hi guys. So originally I was going to post this chapter yesterday but I didn't go on the computer(Big shocker since I used to be on it like every single day, nearly 24/7) and I was going to post it tomorrow but I remembered that my internet will be down tomorrow. Instead I thought "either I make my readers wait or I can just quickly finish the chapter and upload it" so I did that.**

**Any grammar or spelling mistakes are mine.**

**Characters may be OOC.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or NCIS:LA because if I did, there would be a plan in place to have NCIS:LA(Deeks, Kensi, Eric, Nell) meet Kono! I mean come on, Kensi and Kono? Double the trouble!**

* * *

Steve's eyes snapped wide open as he heard screams coming from Kono's room. Immediately but slowly he grabbed his gun from under his pillow and took the covers off before beginning to tip toe to her room, his eyes watching for any sudden movement.

If there was an intruder in the house then he was surprised that Alemana wasn't barking since he was the type of dog that would bark at danger or strangers.

He burst through the room as he shouted, "Five-0" as he held his gun.

He slowly put it down seeing Kono sitting up, tears rushing down her cheeks and sobs rocking her body. He took the few steps towards her bed and sat only inches away from her.

"What's wrong? What happened?" He asked gently as he took her into his arms.

"D-Delano," she cried, holding onto him as if he was the one keeping her alive.

"He won't hurt you," He whispered as he stroked her hair.

"He's going to find me. He's going to find me," she repeated shaking.

"No he's not. If he does he'll have to get through me first,"

"He's going to find me and kill me. He's going to finish the job," she cried.

"Don't worry. I'm here," he told her.

"He found me then-then he s-stabbed me," she began.

"What?" he asked, his hand going towards his gun.

"N-no. In my dream. He f-f-found me and kidnapped me, then s-s-stabbed me a-and promised to h-have my body delivered to F-Five-0 in b-b-boxes. He-he told me he w-would hurt you. That-that he was g-going to m-make s-sure you felt the pain of l-losing someone y-you c-care about then he threw me off the b-b-boat again. i-i-couldn't breathe. The water was r-r-red. B-blood r-red. My-my blood and I-I couldn't s-stop it. It-It was cold and I couldn't-couldn't move. I-I tried to get-get out of the r-rope but it-it wouldn't loosen. I-I tried so hard to get out. I-I could hear him laughing when I fell," she cried, her hands clutching his t-shirt.

"I'm going to make sure that son of a bitch is found and thrown in prison for the rest of his life. He won't traumatize you anymore once he's found," he growled.

She nodded, "I'm not going to get any sleep. I think I'm just going to watch some TV," she whispered.

"No. Come on. You need to sleep and if you stay up, I'll stay up. Sleep in my bed,"

"With you?" she asked. He nodded.

"I'll protect you," he smiled.

"Thanks but I can't-"

"There's nothing wrong. We're in California not Hawaii. I'm not your boss right now. I'm just a friend,"

she nodded before he got off the bed and helped her stand up and took his gun from the nightstand.

She held onto his arm as they walked back to his room. He pulled the covers back and patted the space next to him. Slowly she laid down next to him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Sorry. It's just-" Steve began once he noticed he had wrapped his arms around her. She turned around to face him.

"It's fine. I-I need to feel protected,"

"I just don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you,"

"Your not. Your just trying to be there for me and I'm grateful for that. I feel protected so it's fine for you to wrap your arms around me," she whispered and he nodded before she turned around, her back facing him. He slowly but gently wrapped his arms around her, sensing her relax.

* * *

"Wake up you two!" a voice yelled entering the room and Steve jumped out of the bed, his gun already in his hand while Kono grabbed the lamp nearby.

"Mary Ann?" Steve yelled, putting his gun down, while Kono gently placed the lamp back in its place.

Mary tried to suppress a laugh at her brothers attire which was a navy t-shirt and Grey sweatpants.

"Yeah, it's me, big bro," Mary said as she put her hand in the cereal box she was holding and ate the Cocoa Puffs.

"I could have shot you," he yelled.

"But you didn't," Mary told him, a grin on her face.

"How did you get in here?" He asked, placing his hands on his hips as Kono took the covers off herself and proceeded to stand up.

"Through the door," she said as she munched the food.

"But how?" Steve turned towards Kono.

"Did you give her a key?" he asked.

She nodded, "She had a key to my hotel room and when I bought this house, I decided to give her a copy of the key, in-case anything ever happened,"

"I thought you'd be happy to see me," Mary frowned.

"I didn't think you'd be in LA,"

"Uh, I live in LA. Besides why wouldn't I not be here?," she asked.

"Your a flight attendant and I thought you lived in East Los Angeles, not Westside," Steve looked at her confused.

"Oh I am but I'm not set to leave for like two weeks because I'm on VACATION. For your information, I used to live in East LA. I moved to Santa Monica a few months ago"

"Oh. You should have called,"

"I did. Your voice-mail answered me,"

"You should have left me a voice mail then,"

"I tried. Your box was full,"

"Email?"

"You never answered,"

"Okay, I'm sorry for not replying,"

"Pssh, I got over that like months ago, bro. So what's going on with you two? Finally did the dirty deed?" Mary asked.

"What? No," Kono denied.

"I won't talk about my sex life to my little sister," Steve told her.

"So you guys did have sex?"

"No. We didn't," Steve said, a little angry.

"Aw. Come on. Don't deny it," Mary laughed.

"We didn't do it," Kono said.

"Whatever. Well, I'm hungry and I need food so I'll be downstairs trying to figure out how to make food while you two dress yourselves," Mary smiled before leaving the room.

"I think we need to tell everyone we're not dating or sleeping with each-other," Steve suggested.

"I think so too,"

* * *

"What the hell is tarragon?" Mary asked, closing one of the cabinets as Steve and Kono walked in.

"Beats me. Steve thought we needed _every _spice in the store in-case we, meaning him, decides to cook," Kono said.

"It's good to be prepared to cook any and every kind of meal," Steve said as he grabbed an apple.

"Of course. I wonder where you stashed your grenades since you don't have Winifred to hide them,"

"Who?" Steve asked confused.

"Oh Sam named Danny's car while you were gone," Kono said as she looked through the cabinets for the ingredients needed to make pancakes. She wasn't a cooker but she had learned she could make fairly well good pancakes.

"That's definitely Sam,"

"Yeah. So where are your grenades, guns, etc?" Mary asked glancing around.

"I didn't bring grenades. I only brought a few guns with a few packs of ammo,"

"Uh-huh. Sure. I'll believe that," Mary snorted.

"Don't you love family reunions?" Kono asked as she turned on the stove. She glanced at Steve who had a mixture of pure annoyance and slight happiness on his face.

"They are okay," Steve answered.

"He's a party pooper," Mary nodded.

"I am not," Steve argued.

"Yeah you are. You won't drink anything but BEER. I mean beer is okay but come on, get really drunk and have fun!" Mary exclaimed.

"I don't need to get drunk to have fun, Mary Ann," Steve said, authority in his voice.

"You do need the booze to become fun," Mary argued.

"No I don't. I like being sober. I don't enjoy being drunk because my job isn't done correctly if I'm nursing a migraine after a night of partying,"

"I stayed here to get away from being told what to do from you. So now I'm going back to my place because If I stay, I think you'll give me one of your lectures, which displeases me oh so greatly," Mary said as she grabbed her bag off the counter.

"Don't you want pancakes?" Kono asked.

"Nah. I, uh, got some stuff to deal with. I'll just get some take-out from Denny's or IHOP," Mary shrugged before hugging Kono and then hugging Steve.

"I'll call you later!" She yelled from the door and seconds later, they heard the door shut.

"You want pancakes?" Kono asked holding up a plate that held a stack of pancakes.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm good. I'm going to eat some cereal and then get ready to do some running,"

"Oh come on! They are good! Not poisonous! I promise!" Kono yelled as he left the kitchen.

"I trust you in your fighting and detective skills but not your cooking skills Kono!" Steve answered back from the couch.

Kono frowned and looked down at Alemana who was staring at her and held out the plate of pancakes for her to eat, "You like my pancakes right?"

Alemana sniffed them before going to his water bowl and his food bowl.

"Not even my own dog likes my pancakes. I don't think they are that bad," Kono sniffed them and she scrunched up her noise in disgust before grabbing the pancake box to see what she had done wrong.

Her mouth formed an O as she realized that she had bought the one that required eggs and milk and not the one that you just have to add water.

* * *

"We need to get black towels," Steve suggested as they walked around a store.

Since Mary Ann had woken them up a little earlier then their usual time, they were able to finish during their workout and had decided to go shopping.

They hadn't talked about last night but Steve was itching to talk about her dream and what he wanted to do to make sure she was safe.

"Why?" Kono asked.

"It fits the bathroom colors,"

"Both bathrooms are taupe colored,"

"Yeah. We need something that makes it pop,"

"When did you become a bathroom fashion expert?" Kono asked as she looked at some towels.

"Sam agrees,"

"Sam is a SEAL and your friend. You guys are brothers. Of course he would agree," Kono shook her head as held up a towel.

"I think ivory would be nice. Don't you agree?" She asked.

"Black or navy is better. Any messes are less likely to be seen,"

She crossed her arms, "Steve,"

"yes?"

"I like ivory,"

"I like navy,"

"You like any dark colors,"

"What's wrong with dark colors?"

"I want this house to look welcoming, not dark and twisted," Kono said.

"So? It won't look dark and twisted. It'll look good," he argued.

"I'm trying to make my-"

"_Our _house" Steve implied.

"look modern," Kono finished.

"I'm getting navy then," Steve grabbed a few of the towels he wanted and placed them in the car.

"I'm getting ivory," Kono grabbed a few towels from the shelve and put them in.

* * *

"What do you think of these plates?" Kono asked, pointing at the lemon colored glass plates on display.

"I don't like them,"

"Your picky," she noted.

"I like simple like white plates or navy blue plates,"

"Then it's a good thing I don't like them either,"

"Good because it's not you. The colors I mean,"

"Are you saying that I don't like lemon?"

"I'm saying that the colors wouldn't be you, personality wise,"

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult,"

"I say it's a compliment,"

"Okay,"

"So blue or white?" he asked.

"Blue, navy blue," she smiled.

"Now, silverware? Glassware?" he asked.

Kono stopped the cart and turned around, placing her hands on her hips.

"Who are you and what have you done with Steve McGarrett?" she asked.

"What's wrong?"

"How your acting,"

"We are shopping. How am I suppose to act?" he asked confused.

"The Steve McGarrett, I know likes to do things quick,"

"That's when I'm a leader. When it comes to things that go into my home or I'm going to use, I rather make sure they are not chosen randomly. It bothers me if something doesn't match accordingly to the color,"

"That explains your house. Neat freak," she muttered.

"It's good to be organized," he moved closer to her trapping her. She licked her lips, looking down at his shoes.

"Not all the time," and with that she turned around pushing the cart.

* * *

"I like how you don't seem fazed by the fact that your in the woman's section," Kono told Steve as she looked at some clothes.

"I was taught to endure torture,"

"And this is torture?" Kono asked crossing her arms.

"No. It's more like a waiting game. A test of my patience,"

"Then maybe you should go ask out that woman over there so you don't have to stand here any longer. She has been checking you out for the past half hour," Kono motioned towards the dirty blonde haired woman staring at Steve.

"I know,"

"And you don't care?,"

"I don't care,"

"Why not? She's pretty,"

"Not my type,"

"Catherine was your type,"

"Not exactly. She was one of my friends,"

"That you slept with and had an off and on relationship with,"

"Friends with benefits with a pinch of a relationship,"

"Like a recipe,"

"I like exotic woman, someone that can keep up with me,"

"Wasn't Catherine that?"

"No. A relationship with her in the long run wouldn't have worked out anyways even if she was my type,"

"Your in a bad mood,"

"I'm being conscious,"

"You have a look of stone,"

"I'm showing a blank face,"

"Exactly,"

"And?"

"You need to get lose and be a little fun,"

"I'm fun,"

"No your not. That's why tomorrow night we're going to a club with the NCIS team,"

He stopped abruptly, crossing his arms and giving her the look that said he wasn't fond of the idea, "NCIS?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with them?"

"Who's idea was this? Mary's?"

"Well Deeks thought, that Sam has been too uptight and so I was talking to him and I told him about how your not exactly a party person so we came up with the idea of going to a club. From there, Kensi got on board along with Nate, Eric, Nell, and finally Callen. Mary is hooking us up,"

"What about Sam?"

"Deeks is working on that,"

"Maybe,"

"Come on. It'll be fun," she insisted.

"Fine but I'm only drinking beer,"

"We'll see, Steve," she laughed.

* * *

It had taken them finish shopping considering Steve didn't let them leave until they had looked at every single thing in the store and made sure to buy some things he thought, their house needed minus the furniture and beds. So by the time they finished, they had three carts full of things from desk lights to tooth brush holders. Since they couldn't push the third cart, they had gotten a sales associate to help them push the cart as they shopped. Kono's original plan was to get the essentials but clearly Steve didn't like simple. Every-time she had argued that she didn't need the item he was grabbing off the shelf or something, he would reply with "you never know" and proceed to place the item in the cart. She especially argued when Steve put a blender in the cart along with a few pots and pans.

"It's pointless to buy things I can't use,"

"Why not?"

"I can't cook besides pancakes and I won't burn down the house down because you want a blender and pots and pans," she crossed her arms.

"Then I'll teach you. That will be our goal,"

"Steve, no,"

"Yes. Now stop arguing with me. Tomorrow I'm going to teach you how to cook food and not burn anything, Kono,"

So Kono gave up trying to stop Steve from shopping and decided to go along with it. Even if she complained, he didn't care. Knowing him, it was better to just go along with his shopping.

It had taken the cashier quite a while to take everything from their carts and scan it but she could tell the manager was seeing dollar signs at the amount of things they, I mean, Steve was buying. Steve didn't seem at all fazed by the total price of everything. She had a sneaking suspicion that he had done this before. Getting everything in his truck was quite hard but after organizing it, they managed to fit it all in.

* * *

_Why the hell haven't you been answering our calls? _Danny's frustrated voice came over the phone as Steve sat in his truck, an hour after shopping with Kono.

"I've been busy,"

_You've been too busy to keep us up to date on what's going on with Kono?_

"It's complicated over here,"

_How complicated?_

"Very complicated. She's begun to make a life for herself. She's began to live her own life without the dangers of the past. She's trying to move on from Five-0 and Delano,"

_So she's not coming back?  
_  
"She's changed. A lot. She's more paranoid. More protective and more alert then she ever was. She even got herself a German shepherd mix dog to protect her"

_And what have you been doing there Mr. SEAL?_

"I've helped her in move into the house we saw that she bought,"

_We let you go up to California to have her come back not help her move on! _Danny exclaimed.

_Are you living with her? _He asked, almost scared of the answer.

"Yeah. I'm deeply sorry that Kono is not a child, Danny," Steve said, annoyed with his partner.

"I can't force her to go back and I won't. Besides I'm not leaving California until I bring her back,"

_Whats wrong with her?_

"Delano changed her. She's afraid for her life. She doesn't surf anymore. She doesn't do much anymore actually. She's tried to make a life here and it looks like shes succeeding,"

_What the hell? Wait until we find that son of a bitch, he'll be sorry he ever laid a hand on Kono._

Should we go over there? Chin's concerned voice came over the phone.

"No. I can handle it over here. I'm going to talk to a friend of a friend about what to do,"

_Okay. Good luck but don't expect a lot of time. The governor is going to ask questions soon._

"Let him ask questions. He gets rid of Five-0 and I'll call up a connection in DC. He can get Five-0 reinstated as a _federal _task-force, meaning we would answer to my connection, not Denning,"

_Geez Steve. How many people do you know?_

"A lot,"

Has Kono asked about me?

"Yeah. When I first saw her she asked about how you were and Malia,"

Is she mad?

"It's hard to read her when she's constantly hiding her emotions behind smiles, laughs, and what not"

Tell her, if you get the chance, that I'm sorry

"I will,"

_Let her know that I miss her and so does Grace_

"I will"

Tell her that I miss her too

"No worries. I'll tell her. I have to go, I'll talk to you guys later"

_Bye. Tell Callen I say hi!_

Have a good day and send my greetings and best wishes to everyone in NCIS

"I will. Goodbye,"

Steve knew he should have mentioned the dream but hell, he didn't want to worry Chin or Danny anymore then they already were. It was better that way in his mind.

* * *

"Hey. Lieutenant Commander, Steve McGarrett," Steve stretched his hand out. He had talked to Hetty about the psychologist of NCIS and Hetty was proud to say that he was one of the best, she had, in the therapist/psychologist field.

He shook it as he spoke, "A pleasure to finally meet the guy, that Callen calls the "Sam of Hawaii". Nate Getz, NCIS psychologist. I've heard a lot about you and your team,"

"Sam and I are very alike in more ways then one but nice to meet you,"

"That's true. So what's the reason for your visit?" Nate asked, as typed on his computer.

"I'd like to know if we could speak about an important matter?," Steve asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Would you like to speak somewhere more private?" He asked, standing up, seeing everyone's eyes on them.

"Yeah. That would be nice," "Let me tell Hetty-"

"She knows," Hetty said walking past them, drinking her tea.

"Scary," Steve commented.

"You get used to it," Nate told him.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review! I accept anonymous. (:**

**So in this chapter, we saw Kono have a nightmare then Mary Ann appeared(Don't we all love Mary? She's fun (: And originally she was going to be in the chapter where Kono arrived in LA but I completely forgot to write her in), and McKono went shopping.**

**I have no clue how I feel about this chapter. I feel like I rushed through to finish it but oh well.**

**McKono, Mikita, Crowen, and every other couple I ship (:**  
**Lots of hugs,**  
**Nina**


	7. Meetings, Cafe, and Injuries

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait but I was originally going to post this yesterday but I couldn't and today school started for me so updates for all my stories will be minimum until I can get the handle of everything.**

**Here's the next chapter. I'd like to call this chapter, the filler, the calm before the storm, kind of.**

**All Spelling and Grammar mistakes are mine.**

**Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or NCIS:LA**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"So what do you want to talk about?" Nate asked, as they sat down at a cafe shop nearby.

"Kono,"

"Ah. She's an interesting personality. I've gotten to know her since her arrival here,"

"Yeah and I'm worried about her,"

"I understand,"

"She changed. She's not the Kono Kalakaua, I knew in Hawaii. I don't know how to help her. I'm the type of person that was trained for situations and to resolve problems but I can't fix her and I don't know how to. That's frustrating for me because I need to find answers for problems and if I can't, it drives me insane,"

"Kono is dealing with what Delano did to her in her own way," Nate began.

"How'd you know?"

"I placed some calls to your team about her and I've been watching her since she's arrived. It was obvious she wasn't here on vacation. Her body language says so. The way she acts, sometimes looking over her shoulder, her security system, her dog, and the way she avoids going out at night unless someone is with her, the way she avoids parking her car far away from her destination, the way she acts at NCIS when someone she doesn't know enters the building. It all points to something being wrong mentally and physically,"

"She ran from Hawaii,"

"Yes but from what I see, she did so to protect herself. He believes she's dead and making sure he still believes that includes running. In her mind, that's the only way she can be safe and it's not good for her mentally,"

"Yeah and I don't want her to continue live somewhere for the wrong reasons,"

"To her, it's not wrong. It's right," Nate explained.

"Okay well, she's afraid of the water,"

"And she's not calling it a fear or weakness?"

"Exactly. She won't go in the water. She keeps a distance from the water," Steve ran a hand over his face.

"Okay," Nate nodded.

"What is it then?" Steve asked, a little irritated.

"A fear. It reminds her of the accident though to her, it's not a fear, but it is a fear,"

"Okay," Steve motioned for him to continue.

"This is how I think and see the situation. The water used to be her best friend. In her mind, the water was her life. She lived in the water. Surfing was her life,"

He nodded.

"But when the accident occurred, how she saw the ocean changed. The ocean, now is the enemy. The ocean isn't her friend anymore,"

"Okay?" Steve was a little confused.

"Steve, when she goes into the water, the incident flashes in her mind. The ocean is the reminder that she nearly drowned. The ocean that was suppose to protect her and be her friend, failed her. She's afraid of Delano finding her again and this time succeeding in her end. Think of this way, your best friend back-stabbed you by sleeping with your girlfriend. You don't want to go back to your cheating girlfriend because your afraid she'll hurt you again and you'll always remember that your girlfriend cheated. The water hurt her by nearly drowning her. She doesn't want to go back to the water because she's afraid it'll hurt her and the water reminds her of the accident. It seems to me that she believes that Delano is waiting for her in the ocean,"

"I want to help her. I came here to bring her back and I will stay here as long as it takes for her to return home. I don't want to force her to come back to Hawaii just to see her suffer in silence. I don't want to. I want her to get better and slowly become who she once was,"

"Steve, you have to understand, Kono will never be the same. This accident was a traumatic experience. As much as Kono gets better, she will never truly return to the person she was before the accident. You can take her to the best therapists or psychologists in the world, but even they can not have her return to the person you knew her as before. This accident will or is implanted in her mind forever. I'm happy you want to help her but you can't expect fast results. This will take time,"

"Okay. Yeah, I figured that out yesterday, unfortunately. She had a nightmare last night or early in the morning,"

"What was it about?" Nate asked and Steve proceeded to explain what happened.

"So she ended up sleeping in the same bed as me," Steve finished.

"Oh. It's normal for victims to have dreams or nightmares of what happened. They will get better as long as she can open up about those,"

"What do I do to help her besides what you just told me?"

"Have her open up about the accident, slowly. Don't push her into telling you everything in one day. Show her, she can trust you. Show her you can be the man she can lean on to protect her. You have become her rock, her support system. Right now, Kono is shoving all her problems to the back of her head and trying to be happy but it could hurt her in the future if she doesn't open up. Especially in relationships, I've seen that in some victims they believe that everyone is against them, everyone is trying to hurt them by trying to get close to them,"

He sighed, "You have to careful not to overstep boundaries with her. Do not try to push her into telling you things. Just try to let her talk to you and if she doesn't start, give her signs that you will be there and that your not going anywhere. Along with that, assist her, if necessary in decisions. Be there when she's making those decisions because she's not in the correct mind-frame since the accident. If you have to, make the decisions for her,"

"Okay. What if I can't? What if it doesn't work?" Steve asked.

"There's other options,"

"And those are?"

"There's hypnotherapy,"

"And those of them are?"

"Exposure therapy is one of them. Another is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy,"

Steve placed his hands on his face, worried and sighed.

Nate, sensing the concern and frustration in the former SEAL, leaned forward, "Steve, hypnotherapy will be the last thing we resort to if all fails. I know and I believe that Kono can pull through this traumatic experience without having to go through hypnotherapy,"

Steve dropped his hands from his face, "I hope we don't have to do hypnotherapy,"

"But, Kono is important to me and I'll do everything in my power to help her recover, including using hypnotherapy if everything else fails. I don't care about the price, location, etc, as long as Kono gets better,"

"I know you will. I can tell you care about her. Your protective of her,"

"She's part of my team and my Ohana. Of course, I care about her,"

"Okay, Steve," Nate smiled, Have you thought about the physical scars of the accident?" Nate asked.

He shook his head, "Not really. The last few days, even week, have been a blur to me,"

"It's easy to get lost after leaving your old life,"

"Is it really?" Steve asked.

"Yeah. Steve, your used to being a leader and now your here, far away from home. Your living a completely different life then the one you live in Hawaii. It's easy to just forget about what your really here to do and just fall into the routine. Kono makes it easy because she just wants to forget the accident,"

"Your right. Is it bad of me to get attached to this life?" Steve asked.

"No as long as you know how to sustain control of yourself,"

"The last few days have been great for me. Is it wrong to not want to return home? Is it wrong if I just want to continue to live this life?,"

"No, It's not. From what I got from your background, you've never really experienced a normal life. Now your here and your living what, some people, may call, a domestic life with Kono. Here, you don't have to worry about Five-0, your just living your life, free. It's not wrong to desire for a life that's different from what you have at home,"

"I feel that If I get attached to Kono and this life, It'll be harder for me to let it go when the time comes," Steve looked out the window.

"You can have that life at home, you just need to get your priorities straightened out and decide what you need to let go to have that life,"

"It sounds easy but I know it's not,"

"It isn't because you may have to give up some things in your life to get what you desire. Unfortunately, what we desire isn't always what we get in the end,"

"Exactly. Kono makes it easy to just live without worry," Steve clasped his hands together.

"That's because she doesn't want to be reminded of the accident. When she first arrived here, she told me, that she still couldn't believe that she had nearly died. It was unreal and she went into denial about the accident for a few days,"

"It explains everything. She's important to me and helping her is the least I could do, after what I did to her during IA,"

"I can tell she is. Your body language towards her says so. We can talk about that later, if you wish. Let's go back to the topic at hand. The physical scars of the accident,"

"Okay,"

"Are you aware of the extent of her injuries?" Nate asked.

"No. Though, I'm aware of what they could be,"

Nate grabbed his messenger from the ground, opening it and taking out a file, "Your lucky then. I had the doctor at Honolulu medical center, fax me her medical file describing the extent of her injuries,"

"How bad are they?"

"Take a look for yourself," Nate handed him the medical file and Steve glanced at him before opening it and reading it himself.

"Dehydration, mild hypothermia, cuts and bruises on arms, knees, legs, and hands, bruised ribs, bruised wrists, dislocated shoulder, and exhaustion. It says, one of the cuts required stitches," Steve told him as he read the file.

"Yeah. Pretty bad. I'm surprised she's as well as she is right now,"

"It explains so much," Steve sighed, placing a hand on his forehead.

"What do you mean?" Nate crossed his arms.

"When we go running, she wears long sweats and long sleeved shirts. Now I know why. She wears them to hide the scars," Steve shook his head.

"I need to get home," He stood up, taking out his wallet and placing a few dollar bills on the table.

"Thanks for everything, Nate," He grabbed his jacket that was hanging on his chair and quickly put it on.

"No problem, Steve,"

"I'll see you later,"

They quickly shook hands before going their separate ways.

* * *

"You don't have to hide the scars," Steve told her as he watched her put on a dressing over the stitches on her right leg from the door. She quickly jumped and turned around, her hand over her heart.

"Steve, you scared me," She quickly placed her right leg down.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," He apologized, placing the pharmacy bag on the floor.

"It's okay. I know," She nodded before grabbing some gauze to put over the cut on her left leg.

"Let me do it," He walked over to her, taking the white dressing from her.

"Put your leg on top of the bed and hold on to me," He ordered. She quickly did as he told her, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep her balance.

"Don't say anything. I'm sorry about being ignorant. I got lost and I forgot that you still had an accident," He apologized.

"It's okay. That's what I wanted. I don't want people to continue to remind me or ask me if I'm okay. I figured that if I went on with my life, that you would forget as well," She said, biting her lip.

"I'm here for you. I'm not going anywhere until your well enough to go back to Hawaii. I'm going to stay here and help you," he said as he wrapped the gauze around her leg before taping it.

She relaxed and put her leg down.

"How's your shoulder?" Steve asked as he sat down on the bed.

"It's good,"

"Don't lie," He warned.

"I'm not,"

"Yes you are,"

"Okay, I'm in a little pain, but it should go away in the next few days or weeks," She shrugged.

"Take some of the pain-killers I bought at the pharmacy. They should help you. For now, we will be careful when we go out,"

"I was in the hospital for a week and then I spent a week at home and now I've spent another week here without that much pain. It's been 3 weeks, Steve. I'm fine. My shoulder doesn't hurt as much as it first did after I got out of the water. I'm a strong person you know,"

"I do know but I worry. Just go to the doctor before we go out tomorrow night,"

She shook her head no.

"Please. Do that for me. Please," he pleaded, his eyebrows furrowed together and she sighed, she couldn't resist those pleading eyes of his. She could tell and she knew, he was only asking for her to do that for her own good. He was worried and she didn't like seeing him worried, especially about her. It wouldn't hurt to go to the doctor and get cleared so he wouldn't worry anymore.

"Fine. Only so you can stop worrying about me,"

He smiled, his eyebrows and forehead relaxing, "Good. Now how about I take you out to that dinner I owe you?"

"That sounds like a good plan,"

"I'll pick you up at 7," He told her.

"Good. I'll see you then,"

"Great. I'm going to go over to Sam's and get ready there and I'll see you in two hours," He smiled.

"I'll be ready,"

He quickly kissed her forehead before leaving the room.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review! I accept anonymous (:**

**So the reason, why Steve didn't really notice Kono's injuries, was because, he had gotten used to this whole new life and it slipped through his mind(practically distracted). Kono wanted him to forget that she was in accident, she doesn't like being reminded so she distracted him and he kind of contributed because he went along with it without realizing it.**

**Remember guys, Steve never really had a normal life and Kono is practically offering him a new perspective on life and in the last few chapters, you guys have seen that. He likes it and Kono likes it as well. It's like they are married and they are normal civilians, when they aren't, and Steve is enjoying that. For once, he's not Commander Steve McGarrett, he's just Steve McGarrett, living with Kono in a house near the beach with a dog. He's opening his eyes to a life that he had always desired but never thought he'd get and now he has it. Now he's thinking "Maybe i want this type of life in the future. Maybe I can have the whole house with the white picket fence and dog and maybe even kids".**

**In the next few chapters, we will see Steve become conflicted with himself on whether he wants to return to Hawaii, after Kono becomes better and recovers and they(Chin and Danny) find Delano and lose what he has. Right now, neither of them know they have feelings for each-other and when that finally comes out and they start to realize, that maybe they can be more then friends, it's going be hard for them. It's going to cause some tension and I'm not going to do the whole "I love you. Let's be together!". It's going to take more then that this time.**

**Anyways, expect an update for "What About Now?" tomorrow. It would have been uploaded today but I need to spell-check and read it through to make sure it makes sense.**

**McKono, Mikita, Crowen, Densi,**

**-Nina**


	8. Dinner, Danny, and Talks

**Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait, real-life got in the way.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or NCIS:LA**

**All grammar and spelling mistakes are mine.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

"So you can make a date but you can't take me to a simple state dinner?" Sam asked, crossing his arms as Steve buttoned up his shirt.

"He owes you a state dinner?" Deeks asked, a raised eyebrow.

Sam nodded.

"How?" Deeks asked.

"Long story," Sam answered.

"If you want, next time, Governor Denning has a state dinner, I'll take you as my date," Steve told him, looking at him through the mirror.

"No thanks, I'm sure you can take Kono instead and I'll be the special guest of yours,"

"Okay. Do I look okay in blue? Or should I change?," He asked turning around to face Kensi, Deeks, Callen, and Sam.

"You look good in blue. It brings out your eyes," Kensi smiled and Deeks looked at her strangely.

"Good. I need to look nice tonight," Steve smiled.

"Someone is trying to get laid tonight!" Deeks grinned, earning a jab in the ribs by Kensi.

"Ouch! Fern, be careful!" Deeks feigned hurt clutching his rib-cage.

"Say that again and I won't be responsible for my actions," Steve warned, using his signature glare.

"I swear, that's the exact same glare, Sam uses," Deeks muttered.

* * *

"Kensi? What are you doing here?" Kono asked, once she opened the door.

"Well, I went over to Sam's and found Steve there so I came over here to help you with your outfit!" She smiled, pushing right past her towards the stairs.

"Wait!" Kono called out, rushing to catch up to her. She entered her room to see her looking at the dresses she had laid out and talking to Mary Ann.

"Red looks good on you. Maybe coral," Kensi noted.

"That's what I told her," Mary Ann crossed her arms.

"I was thinking of wearing something purple,"

"That could work. Dark purple. Maybe," Kensi pointed towards the dress.

"Though," Kensi held the dress against Kono, her index finger on side of her lip, "Coral seems to be a way better color on you,"

"I pick coral over dark purple. That's not the type of dress you wear to a date with my brother," Mary Ann told her.

"I do have to agree. Coral is a better color for you and it's bright, which is good," Kensi noted.

"I'll wear coral then," Kono said taking the dress from her.

"Good. And wear those cute sandals!" Mary Ann called out as Kono went into her bathroom. Moments later, Kono came out, wearing the sleeveless knee-length coral dress.

"Now that's how you wear a dress," Kensi and Mary Ann nodded.

"Are you sure it's not too much?" Kono asked, looking the mirror.

"No. It's perfect. Now with a necklace and a bracelet and earrings, you'll look perfect," Kensi grinned.

"My brother will be gawking when he sees you. I think it'll be the first real date he's been to in like forever," Mary Ann laughed.

"Okay, I do hair, you do makeup," Kensi ordered.

"Good, because If I had to do her hair, I'd probably ruin it. So makeup, I'll do and you can do her hair," Mary Ann explained. Kensi nodded.

Mary Ann pointed at Kono then at the chair in front of her mirror, "Sit down Missy,"

"I don't want a ton-"

"Nope. We're in charge, Kono, so just be quiet and let us do our magic," Kensi smiled.

* * *

**Half an hour later...**

The doorbell interrupted Kensi and Mary Ann's conversation with Kono and immediately the two of them rushed down to open the door.

"Hey Kens. Hey Mary Ann. Is Kono ready?" Steve asked walking in, flowers in hand. He had picked up some roses on the way from Sam's place.

"Yes, she is," Mary Ann grinned.

"Introducing, your date for the night, Kono!" Kensi announced as Kono came down the stairs. Steve's jaw dropped seeing her. Her hair was slightly curled and she wore light makeup but enough that it made her eyes sparkle.

"Hey. I got these for you," He handed her the red roses and she smiled, inhaling the scent.

"Thank you," She handed them to Mary Ann who rushed to place them in a vase.

"You look beautiful," He complimented. She blushed.

"You don't look so bad either," He wore a blue button up shirt and black dress up pants and shoes.

He laughed, holding out his arm for her.

"Shall we go?"

She nodded, hooking her arm to his.

"Photos!" Mary Ann exclaimed, coming back with a camera.

"Smile!" Kensi ordered and the two complied before Mary Ann began to take photos of them with her camera.

"It's like prom all over again," Kono laughed and soon Steve joined her, laughing at the old memories.

"He hated prom. I don't even think he went!" Mary exclaimed from behind her camera.

"I did not hate prom. I simply was not a fan of it. For your information, Mary Ann, I did go to prom,"

"Yeah but I bet you left earlier!" Kensi added.

"Oh stop being so hard on him," Kono told them.

"Yeah, and we better go before we're late," Steve said, as he gently unhooked his arm from hers and wrapped it around her waist.

* * *

"So where are we going?" Kono asked once they were in the car.

"That's a surprise,"

"You know I hate surprises,"

"I know,"

"So why won't you tell me?" She asked.

"Because it will spoil the surprise,"

"I hate you,"

"You love me,"

"Whatever,"

* * *

"I found this restaurant, when I was driving around, a few days ago," Steve told her once he pulled up into a parking space.

"It's beautiful," Kono complimented.

It was a restaurant right above the beach. It was somewhat large, with two floors, and an outside area that faced the ocean.

"I got us reservations," He explained, killing the engine before opening his door and rushing to open hers. Just as she moved to unlock her own door, he opened it, holding out his hand for her to take.

"Thank you," She said as she took hold of his hand.

They walked up to the hostess, who greeted them, "Hello welcome to the Surfing Sun Restaurant,"

"Hey. Reservations under McGarrett," Steve told her.

She quickly looked down to the list before looking up, "Of course. Right this way,"

The hostess showed them to a table outside facing the beach and quickly handed them each a menu.

"A server will be right with you," The hostess told them before walking away.

"So what do you want to drink?" Steve asked.

"Maybe a beer or some wine you?"

"A wine and a water,"

"Cool,"

"Hello, I'm Brad, and I'll be your server for this evening. What would you like to drink?" Brad asked.

"I'll take some red wine," Kono said.

"Make that, two wines, and a glass of water, please," Steve modified.

"Okay. Are you ready to order?" He asked.

"I'll take the Sirloin Steak with garlic butter," Steve told him.

"I'll have the marinated grilled shrimp," Kono told the server.

"Alright. I'll be back with your food in a few minutes," Brad quickly took the menus from leaving them.

"Nate told you?" Kono said, more in a question then a statement. She could tell he was hiding something.

"Yeah. How did you know?," Steve asked looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"You are a man on a mission, Steve. Of course, I know. I'm surprised you didn't hear it from Sam or Deeks or Callen. It didn't take Nate to find out I was in denial of the accident. Everyone knew because everyone saw how I acted. I was in denial of everything. I only talked to Nate when he showed up at my hotel room telling me that he was there if I needed to talk to someone. That was when I broke down, when it all came back to me, everything. I told him, it was fine for him to speak of what I was telling him to the team and anyone who that it concerns, including Five-0. It wasn't a secret that the accident had changed me. I knew eventually he'd explain everything to you and you'd find out the easy way or the hard way. I was just waiting for that day,"

"He showed me your medical file," Steve told him.

"No surprise. He ordered it to be faxed to him when I told him my injuries were farther then I was showing,"

"I didn't know they were that bad,"

"You couldn't have. I'm good at hiding my emotions and injuries,"

"If I had known-"

"Don't beat yourself up for it. Besides, even if Nate hadn't given you my medical file, you would have probably found out yourself and either forced the doctor or gotten the governor involved if neither worked,"

He chuckled, "That's true. The easy way or the hard way,"

"Yeah,"

"I care about you and whether or not you believe it, being here for you is the least I could do,"

"Don't feel guilty about what happened with Delano,"

"But I do. I wasn't there when I was suppose to be. You are part of my Ohana and I promised to look out for you and I broke that promise, twice. I never talked to you during your suspension and I didn't further question the governor on why you were on leave,"

"It's not your fault. You were off trying to figure out about Shelbourne,"

"If you had died, I would have never forgiven myself. Five-0 wouldn't be able to run without you in it,"

"It ran pretty well without me when I was on suspension," She noted.

"Because you weren't dead but if you had died in that ocean that night, I would have never been able to go back to Five-0. I couldn't, it wouldn't be fair to try to be a team when you are not in it,"

"I don't know what to say,"

"You don't have to say anything. Just know that even though it seems like you just do undercover work, your more then that to me. Your important to this team and whether or not you believe it, it's true. I didn't come here because I was forced to, I came here because I wanted to. I'm willing to do whatever it takes for you to recover, whether it's going to take weeks or months or even years, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere," He took hold of her hand, squeezing it. She looked down, tears filling her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me. I'm here to stay," He told her.

She nodded before wiping her tears away.

"Are you ever going to try to go into the water again?" He asked gently.

"I don't know. Right now, the water is what I hate,"

"I can help you overcome that fear. I don't want you to have to live away from the water when you love it,"

"Right now, I don't want to. I still need time to recover. I'm still getting used to the fact that I was nearly killed," She stated.

"Okay. If that's what you want then okay,"

"How's Malia?" She asked, twirling the spaghetti on her fork.

"Uh, I think she's okay,"

"Tell me the truth. I know you've been in contact with them. I'm not stupid, Steve. Chin and Danny wouldn't allow you to come over here without you contacting them to let them know of my progress,"

"I'm not saying you are stupid. I just haven't asked about Malia, much. Last thing I heard, before I left on a plane over here, Chin had cut his hours at work to stay with Malia,"

"What did Delano do?" She asked.

"Shot her in the stomach,"

"Oh. Is she okay? Any permanent damage?"

"Yeah, she's okay. I'm not sure of the permanent damage but I'll be sure to ask Chin next time he calls me,"

"Okay,"

"you should talk to Chin. He misses you. He told me to tell you that," Steve said.

"I can't talk to him right now. I need time to figure out what I'm going to do,"

"Okay. Take your time,"

"I know,"

The server returned with their food and they quickly dug in while talking about old cases and such.

"I have to say, my favorite case was the one we included Kamekona and Sang Min. I still have the photo of Sang Min wearing that shirt. It's my screen-saver,"

Steve chuckled, "I couldn't even take the guy serious that in that outfit,"

Kono laughed, "I don't blame you. I couldn't even stop laughing,"

"He couldn't even stop eating,"

"Don't remind me! He ate four plates plus two when we were about to take him back to jail! The food they give him must be bad," Kono exclaimed.

"Yeah. It's a wonder that he can even eat that much," Steve nodded.

"What was your favorite case?"

"My favorite case was rescuing those kids in the school bus. It just stuck to me, that case. The faces of their parents, how worried they were. Getting them back safely was a relief,"

Kono smiled, "It was a good case. It could have gone wrong but it didn't,"

"Good thing or we could have said goodbye to our jobs,"

"True,"

* * *

"I don't think I will be able to eat food tomorrow. I'm so full, I think I've ate enough for the rest of the week," Kono joked once they got into his truck again after leaving the restaurant.

Steve chuckled, "Agreed. I can't remember the last time I ate as much chocolate as I did today,"

Kono laughed, "When was the last time?"

"When I was 9 and my dad found me on the kitchen floor eating the cake my mom had made for this fundraiser,"

"Poor Steve got in trouble?"

"Nope but my mom had to run to the nearest store to get buy a cake because when my dad found me, we only had half an hour to get to the fundraiser,"

"Ouch. Time crunch,"

* * *

"I enjoyed tonight. It was fun and I haven't really had fun in a while, so thank you," Kono told Steve once they entered their house.

"No problem. We should this more often," He said as they walked up the stairs and into her room.

"Really?" Kono asked, as she placed a hand on his shoulder to steady herself to take off her heels.

"Yeah. It'll be our own little thing,"

"Going on dates?" She asked.

"Yeah. What's so bad about that?" He asked.

"Nothing, it sounds good,"

"Good," and with that he turned to leave.

"By the way, I also enjoyed going out with you, tonight," He told her before leaving the room. She smiled to herself.

* * *

_Steve McGarrett what have you done? _Danny's voice entered Steve's ears as he answered his ringing phone.

"Danny, what the hell do you want at 2 in the morning?" Steve growled.

_It's 11pm over here and what I want is for you to call the governor up and get rid of these replacements! _Danny exclaimed.

"Replacements? What replacements?" Steve rubbed his eyes.

_The governor threw in two people into our team until you and G.I Jane come back!_

"What did they do?" Steve sighed.

_The question is what didn't they do! The woman's name is Jett and she's bat shit crazy! She likes to BLAST music through the entire office! It's not even decent music! She's insulted my hair already and my amount of hair gel because according to her "no guy wears that much hair gel". The guy's name is Greg and he is a psychologist turned FBI agent that can't stop asking "how are you feeling today?" and "why are you feeling this way?". I can't look angry or feel a single emotion on my face because he'll just ask question after question! He thinks I have anger issues that according to him is "effecting your family life and could be potentially the reason why your wife divorced you the first time". Can you believe it? It's completely outrageous! I don't have issues. My only issue is him and I'm about to quit my job and go to HPD until you come back! _Danny ranted.

"Okay. Goodnight, I'm going to go sleep now," and with that Steve yawned before hanging up and shutting his phone down and placing it under his pillow.

* * *

"What happened in Japan? With Shelbourne?" Kono asked the next morning as they prepared breakfast together. She could immediately see Steve's jaw tighten and his body become stiff. His once bright eyes hardened and she could feel the tension rise in the room.

"That's a story for another time,"

"Steve," She said and he knew she meant business.

"I just don't want to talk about it," He snapped, flipping the pancakes once more before turning off the stove.

"What happened?" She asked again. He turned around, his eyes flashing red.

"Kono, damn it, I don't want to talk about it!" He yelled and Kono jumped looking at Steve with somewhat fearful eyes. He quickly turned, placing his hands on the counter to lean on.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, loud enough for her to barely hear him.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have asked when you clearly didn't want to talk about it," Kono said.

"A lot happened. So much. It's complicated. Everything got complicated when I found out who Shelbourne is," Steve sighed, as he slowly slid down to the floor. He put his knees up to his chest, leaning against the cupboards, as tears began to threaten to fall.

She quickly joined him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know where to start,"

"Just start wherever you want,"

And with that, Steve began to retell her everything that had happened from the moment he left Hawaii to Japan.

"So my mom, my dad, Joe, and Catherine have all been lying to me," Steve ended.

"Your mom had valid reasons to fake her death. She was just trying to protect you and Mary Ann,"

"She's missed out on my life Kono! I was made to believe that my mother had died when I was 15! Mary Ann was lied to! We were all lied to! Even Catherine, who I loved, lied to me!" Steve yelled as a few tears began to fall. Kono leaned against him, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's okay," She whispered.

"No, it's not," Steve said, sighing.

"Where is she now?"

"In Japan. I'm not letting her leave until I can figure out how to without risking her safety," Steve answered just as his phone began to ring. He quickly took it out from his pocket before hitting the _ACCEPT_ button on his phone.

"McGarrett," He greeted.

_Wo Fat escaped prison 12 hours ago_

* * *

**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review! I accept anonymous :)**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter, Clubbing with the team :) Don't worry, we will meet Five-0's new temporary teammates in the next chapter. I'm kind of excited to write about them. :)**

**McKono, Mikita, Densi,**  
**Nina**


	9. Clubs, Thoughts, and Food

**I'm sorry for the late update but real life got in the way. My life got turned upside down and jut when its balanced again, in a way, my laptop and/or it's charger decide not to work, so I'm using my phone to upload this which is why the font and stuff may look really weird. I'm not even sure how many words this is but I'm using it's a short chapter which I'm very sorry for. **

**I'm probably going to redo this chapter but hey, you guy deserve some sort of an chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or NCIS:LA. Any spelling or grammar mistakes are all mine.**

**I made up the name of the club so I'm not even sure it even exists in LA.**

* * *

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Kono asked as they stood at their table at Club Surf. Steve looked at her and she could tell he wasn't exactly happy to come. She turned towards Sam and saw the exact facial expression. She frowned and turned towards Deeks who had a grin on his face.

"At least Deeks is willing to get loose!" Kono smiled.

She didn't like that Steve was so unwilling to let himself go for a night. It was hard to have any fun when barely anyone in the group wanted to. There was a reason why she and Kensi had collaborated to make them all go out. They needed to be more "fun".

"Deeks is always willing to get loose," Sam stated.

"Especially for the 'ladies'," Callen air quoted 'ladies' with his fingers.

"What ladies?" Sam joked.

"I happen to be very likeable. Have you not seen my hair?" Deeks stated, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, we have. What's the story behind it?" Eric asked.

"The story behind my hair?" Deeks asked confused.

"How did your hair become what it is today?" Nell clarified.

"You people are cruel!" Deeks exclaimed.

"They are just asking how your hair became the way it is today," Sam said.

"Yeah that's insulting me,"

"How?" Callen asked.

"Because you guys don't like my hair so your asking how my hair ended up the way it is," Deeks patted his hair.

Kensi laughed, "That's true!"

"Don't be so hurtful, Fern," Deeks feigned hurt.

"Call me fern again and you'll wake up with your hair shaved and that's a promise," Kensi threatened.

"Geez, someone's PMSing," Deeks muttered and that earned him a jab in the ribs by Kensi.

"Ouch!" Deeks exclaimed, clutching his side.

"I'm going to go get myself a drink," Nate stated.

"I'll go with you," Eric said.

"Me too," Nell piped in.

"Get me a drink!" Kono raised her hand.

"Make that two!" Kensi called out.

"Get me one too!" Deeks called out.

"Okay so three drinks? How about you guys?" Nate asked.

"Just get us all a drink," Steve stated. Nate nodded before going towards the bar with Nell and Eric.

* * *

Minutes later the three of them came back with a few trays of drinks. Each of them took their own and taking a sip.

"Come on, Steve. Smile a little," Kono encouraged. Mary rolled her eyes, knowing very well that her brother wasn't someone who got happy at going to a club.

"Your talking to my brother who hates clubs and loud music and would rather be at a shooting range then at a club with his friends," Mary crossed her arms.

"Steve, please, be a little more, lose?" Kono pleaded, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. He sighed and muttered "fine" under his breath.

She smiled before drowning her drink then grabbing drowning another one before walking onto the dance floor.

"Why don't you join her?" Callen asked Steve.

"I don't dance,"

"Me neither but if I were you I'd join her,"

"She obviously wants you to," Kensi said.

"I think she found a partner," Deeks motioned towards the tall man, that was now dancing with Kono.

Steve glared at the man who had his hands on Kono before drowning his drink and stalking over to the dance-floor.

"$50 says he's going to punch the guy," Deeks grinned.

"$100 says he won't," Sam stated.

"$100 says Kono will throw the punch," Kensi said.

Steve walked up to Kono and the man, turning Kono around away from the man.

"Hey! She's with me!" the man exclaimed angrily.

"She came in the club with me. I suggest you stay away from her," Steve threatened.

"Finders, keepers, bud," the man stated. Kono whipped around, fire in her eyes.

"I am not a reward, much less a prize!" Kono snapped swinging her hand, slapping the man across the face.

Steve couldn't help but smile as the man glared before stalking away.

* * *

"I don't like to dance. Especially at a club," He stated. He hated the loud music and the lights.

"Okay then. Just let the music flow through your body then," She instructed as she placed his hands on her waist. She moved along with the music twirling and swaying her hips.

"I don't like this," He said as he turned her and dipped her.

"I love clubs,"

"I don't like them," He stated.

She pressed against him, a curious look on her face, "Why?"

"They aren't fun,"

"Maybe because you've never had someone to enjoy it with," she shrugged.

"Maybe but i still don't like them,"

"I'll make you like them. Besides I'm a very convincing person," she winked and at that point, Steve knew she was getting a little drunk.

"Oh really?" Steve asked, playing along.

"Yeah. If not, I guess i can find another person to dance with. Someone willing to keep up with me," she smiled before starting to pull his hands away from her waist. He quickly placed them back on her waist, pulling her back towards him.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure i can keep up. Question is, can you keep up?" He asked.

"I can keep up," she smiled before they began to dance again.

"Am i the only one who thinks they need to hook up?" Kensi asked as she and the rest watched Steve and Kono dance.

"They definitely have a connection," Nate noted.

"$100 says that Steve will make the first move," Deeks said.

"$100 says that Kono will make the first move," Kensi smiled.

"Deal," The two said in unison as they shook hands.

"Bet's never end good," Eric shook his head.

* * *

Happy. That's how Kono felt since she had arrived in California. Maybe it was because she no longer felt like she lived by a title or maybe it was because Steve was with her. Maybe it was a little bit of both. She had learned things about Steve that she would have never learned if they were still in Hawaii.

She learned that he played guitar when she came down the stairs after taking a shower, wondering what was the sound and found him leaning against the couch, with a guitar, playing a melody.

_She leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms, as she watched him. After a while, he looked up and met her eyes and motioned for her to sit next to him._

_"You play guitar?" She asked, once she sat down beside him. He nodded._

_"I learned after my mother died. It was a way for me to let my feelings out without having to __say a single word. I haven't played in years so I'm a little rusty," He explained. She nodded._

_"Your really good for someone who hasn't played in years,"_

_"Thanks,"_

_"Why are you playing again?"_

_"I'm in California, away from Hawaii, away from Five-0. I don't have to worry about a lot and well, truth be told, I missed playing. Being the leader of Five-0, you don't get a lot of time to yourself you know?"_

_She nodded. Being part of Five-0 had it's consequence's and one of them was the lack of free time you got to actually have a social life. Criminals never slept or took a vacation, so it was nearly rare if they got a full day off where they didn't have to worry about a case or an escaped criminal or hell, the governor asking more questions than they have the answers for._

_"Yeah but it's one of the consequences of being part of the governor's task-force,"_

_He nodded and turned towards her, "Want to learn?" He asked referring to the guitar. She looked at him, giving him her "are you serious?" look._

_"Steve I can't play-"_

_"Come on, Kono," He encouraged. _

_"Steve, I'm going to suck at playing guitar," she told him._

_"I promise you won't suck," He promised. She sighed in defeat._

_"Fine,"_

_He smiled and put the guitar next to him so it was leaning against the couch. He motioned for her to sit between his legs and she quickly crawled and sat between his legs before he grabbed the guitar._

_"Now, put your left hand here and your right hand here," he instructed._

_He began to teach her about the different notes and some of the history behind guitars. He showed her the different combinations of strings that created melodies and tones. She could tell he was passionate about playing the guitar just by the way he spoke and the glint in his eye when she asked a question about a note. He was patient with her, making sure she knew how to play the note to the T before teaching her a few more notes_.

* * *

It was almost weird or even strange for her to see a different side of Steve McGarrett. Instead of his usual cargo pants, t-shirt, and boots, he wore jeans with button up shirts and sneakers. He was happier, more care-free, more playful, more alive, then she had seen him in Hawaii. His eyes had a glint in them that she had never seen in the nearly two years of being part of his task-force.

He was almost a completely different person with some traits of his old self. That made her wonder if this was the Steve that disappeared after his mother's death. Truth be told, she almost liked this Steve more than the Steve in Hawaii, for many reasons. As much as she hated herself for thinking those thoughts, she knew it was true. Sure she liked his fearless and quick thinking personality but she loved his soft and care-free personality more.

She was snapped out of her thoughts hearing the door open and she automatically knew it was Steve. He came into the living-room, carrying bags of take-out food with drinks and a movie in another hand.

"Hey," she greeted, standing up from the couch. She kissed his cheek before grabbing one of the bags and placed it on the coffee table. Her eyes widen as she realized what she had done but as she looked up, she saw he wasnt bothered by her gesture.

"Hey. How was your day?" He asked as he set the drinks down.

"Good. What about yours?"

"It was good. What did you do?" he asked.

"I spent some time outside then cleaned the house and did the laundry. What did you do?" She asked as they sat down.

"That's good. I talked to Hetty and then I went with Sam to the shooting range for a bit,"

"Cool. How was it?"

"It was fun. Have you talked to Kensi?" Steve asked as he stood up and went towards the kitchen to make some popcorn.

"No. She's still recovering from the hangover!" Kono said loud enough for Steve to hear her.

"I'm surprised you aren't as sick as her, considering you had more drinks then her," Steve said as he walked back from the kitchen, a bowl of popcorn in his hands.

"I can handle my drinks better," she stated.

"That's probably true," Steve said as he sat beside her, placing the bowl between them.

"I'm going down to where I trained tomorrow to swim some laps and maybe some long distance shooting. Wanna come?" he asked looking at her.

"Won't they get mad? I mean I'm not a SEAL nor am I a lieutenant or anything,"

"No. As long as your with me, you'll be fine,"

She nodded.

"So it's a date?" he asked, casually.

She smiled, "it's a date,"

* * *

**What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review! I accept anonymous**.

**Review!**

**McKono, Densi, & Mikita,**

**Nina**


	10. Important Authors Note

Hi guys. I know I went AWOL and didn't update for some time(months I believe). A lot of things occurred one of them being that I lost someone close to me recently and before that I was dealing with that person being really sick and not being able to see them. Then there was school and just things were not going well in my personal life.

I'll try to update as soon as I can, but the past few weeks, I haven't been able to really focus and write chapters. I mean I've written little things when I thought about something, but they aren't really chapters.

I hope you guys understand and I just wanted to let you guys know what was going on. I haven't abandoned these stories nor forgotten about you guys. That's a fact. I've just needed some time to really focus on what happened and such.

-N


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